Keeping your cool during a big game is not always easy.
Add the challenge of being plugged into an unfamiliar position, and you have an idea why Chantelle Swaby felt extra stressed at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
Swaby, who played center back since age 5 on youth teams in West Hartford, Conn., got the news before Jamaica’s opening Group C game against Brazil in Grenoble.
“The coaches said we see you as a No. 6 ” Swaby recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh, gosh, it’s the biggest stage of soccer, so I don’t think I should be playing a position I had never played in my life.’ Day of game, I could not be any more nervous when they announced the lineup.