How a professional footballer and a fitness coach are building a 5,000-strong community of women through sport

Sisters in Sweat, a community for women connected through sport and wellness, was just one year old when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged.

Undeterred, founders Swetha Subbiah, a fitness coach, and Tanvie Hans powered ahead, with online engagements in yoga, HIIT, and dance to build the community.

Sisters in Sweat, today, has a network of over 5,000 women across India, with its physical sessions happening in Bengaluru and Mumbai.

The organisation offers basketball, football, badminton, swimming, and kickboxing sessions, yoga, dance, and a sweat fest that merges different formats in a 1.5-hour session. It also conducts networking events.

There are 16 different sessions in Bengaluru every week and six sessions across Mumbai. Social events include pizza-making sessions, karaoke nights, or offsite trips.

Subbiah and Hans say they are now working on a travel vertical to expand the community.

“We had organised two trips–one to the Andamans and another, a trek in Dehradun. The response got us thinking about launching a vertical that combines travel and fitness,” Subbiah tells HerStory.

The founders are excited about its upcoming multi-city Sweat Fest in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

"The Sweat Fest will be a celebration of fitness and sisterhood that aims to bring women across the country who may not have had an opportunity to attend one of our sessions. In a carnival atmosphere, we will have a variety of fitness/wellness classes ranging from yoga to dance. Additionally, our “sister” brand partners will be showcasing their products/services in a wellness market setting allowing our attendees to sample and purchase them," she adds. On the anvil is also a 10K run for women in these cities.

“Sisters in Sweat’s target audience is any woman who has the desire to engage in sport and wellness. Our members comprise girls as young as 14, mothers and daughters engaging in a sport together and even grandmothers,” Hans explains.

Most members of Sisters in Sweat are in for the fitness and fun part of it, however, Hans says that with the launch of an elite programme sometime next year, the organisation will help women play competitively and take up sport professionally.

While membership to the community is free, Sisters in Sweat has subscription models and fees for the sessions and events. The organisation charges Rs 550 for an individual session.

The founders say they have partnered with brands like Bare Necessities, Copper+Clove, Proactive for Her, Nutrify My Diet, which have helped the organisation lower session charges and include more women.

Early days

The story of Sisters in Sweat began when Subbiah, a fitness coach and Hans, a professional footballer connected over a shared love for the sport while promoting a Nike campaign in 2017.

Soon, Hans moved to Bengaluru from Delhi to scout for better opportunities. At a birthday party they attended, a friend, Schonali Rebello casually suggested that Hans organise a football session for women.

“On a lark, Swetha and I sent a message to all our friends. We booked a turf, and to my surprise, 17 women turned up, most of them, friends,” Hans says.

Seeing the response to their first session, the community continued over WhatsApp. Initially, there were no charges for the sessions, just the ground fees. Seeing an opportunity to scale, the friends registered Sisters in Sweat at the end of 2019, as a “community exclusively for women, by women, stitched together by sport and wellness.”

“In 2019, we received an opportunity to participate in the Creators’ League with Adidas sponsoring us. The tournament was a huge success. This pushed us further,” says Subbiah.

Bonding over sport

Hans grew up in Delhi, picking up football in school and playing for Delhi at the national level. However, her UK citizenship proved to be a deterrent. Determined to continue with the sport, she moved to the UK for a master’s in International Management at the University of Exeter.

“In July 2013, I attended the trials of three English clubs. I went on to play for Tottenham Hotspur for two seasons and one season with Fulham,” she says.

In 2016, Hans returned to India and in the following year, met Subbiah during the Nike ad campaign. The friendship would soon turn into a business partnership.

Born and raised in Coorg, Subbiah played basketball for Karnataka and later fell in love with hockey, representing the state in the under-16 team. While pursuing an undergraduate degree in Toronto, Subbiah began training at the university gym.

She returned to India to work at Ernst & Young but after two years, started looking for work in sports but there weren’t too many options. During this time, she was introduced to a person who was setting up Bengaluru’s first premium health club, Zele.

“I impulsively jumped at it and in two years, learned everything—from procuring equipment to hiring trainers. I was getting antsy about what was next. I decided to try personal training, which was then limited to a body-building culture,” she explains.

She got certified as a trainer in the UK, and for the past 15 years, has been a personal trainer.

Building a sisterhood

Subbiah and Hans believe the community is all about sisterhood.

“Women come to our sessions to hit their fitness targets or make new friends. The intention of Sisters in Sweat is to give women and girls access to sports and wellness activities. I think we really up their happiness,” says Hans.

For example, Schonali Rebello believes football has helped “get a piece of my identity back”. “This group of women is always building each other up, always fixing each other’s crowns.”

Another member, Raisa Goveas (34) says SIS has “created a women-centric space for sport, where we can get together, shed inhibitions, and just enjoy ourselves while learning something new.”

“We want to be present in more cities with various offerings. As the first step, we are looking at Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and Ahmedabad. We want to grow slowly because we don’t want to lose the quality. It will take time, but we are willing to work hard towards it,” Subbiah says.