The Big Interview: Ruby Grant
The former England youngster opens up about finding herself on a journey which has taken from her from home to Sweden, via North Carolina, and taught her so much about herself...
Ruby Grant is by self-admittance in a good place right now, having six months ago signed a first professional contract with Swedish champions BK Håcken.
At just 21, Grant is playing at the top-level in Sweden, while also having played for and grown up at Arsenal, plus having worked under one of the greatest college coaches in history in Anson Dorrance at the University of North Carolina.
She’s also played for the England youth teams. All in all, not a bad resumé for someone so young.
She has had to take a lot in her stride, such as agreeing to cross to the other side of the world at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning family couldn’t visit her in the USA, and then after just a year making the tough decision to leave and settle on a pro deal in Gothenburg.
But those decisions and the bravery to make them forms a big part of Grant’s journey and she has evolved as a player and a person over the past few years, when I ask how different she feels to the 16-year-old who made her senior debut for Arsenal.
“It’s a really good question,” she laughs. “I think I’ve changed astronomically. I think if you compared me to that 16-year-old, you’d see so many differences – all positives I hope. I’m a lot more independent now and I’ve found out I really do just love playing football and pushing myself in these different environments.
“To travel and play the game I love, to come to Håcken, I just feel incredibly lucky football has allowed me to do this. Arsenal, UNC, Håcken, it’s opened so many doors and given me so many experiences I’m extremely grateful for.”
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That is the beauty of speaking to Grant. She at several points chuckles at what she is saying, still taking in the journey she has been on, but she’s remarkably composed and self-assured in herself, but never even comes close to bordering on arrogance.
It’s the self-assuredness of someone who has made tough decisions, which she admits all form around what will make her the happiest, and allowed her to find another side of herself even she admits she didn’t really know was there.
“When it boils down to it, everything can be perfect, but if the football’s not, then it’s not quite perfect to me…”
“I’ve learned I love meeting new people,” she says. “Everywhere I’ve gone I’ve met 20 plus new women with different stories. I’m a very sociable person, I like getting to know people, I’ve learned I’m a big extrovert! Maybe if I hadn’t travelled I wouldn’t know that. I loved Arsenal but it was always the same environment, I had no idea how comfortable I’d feel on my own in a new country. It was almost a shock to me, ‘I’m not scared of this, I’m excited’.
“Everybody wants to push themselves, drive themselves and be the best they can. I’m proving to myself I am really committed to my dream and I’m willing to do anything to reach my potential. I’m proving to myself what I’m willing to sacrifice. Leaving behind family, then leaving behind UNC. Everything there was as perfect as it could be, I loved everything, but I wasn’t getting the perfect football experience in terms of game time, so I’ve shown I will make big decisions for my career.
“When it boils down to it, everything can be perfect, but if the football’s not, then it’s not quite perfect to me.”
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