Sisters in Sweat grows to 20,000 women across 10 Indian cities

Sisters in Sweat, the Indian sports community co-founded by former Tottenham and Fulham midfielder Tanvie Hans, has grown to 20,000 women across 10 cities, according to a Guardian report published on Tuesday. Football remains among its most popular activities, nine years after an informal lesson in Bengaluru brought together 17 women and provided the starting point for the initiative.

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Hans founded the community with performance coach Swetha Subbiah after being asked at a dinner party in 2017 to teach someone football. Friends and acquaintances attended the first Sunday session. Hans told the Guardian that the pair had not initially set out to address a business opportunity: the popularity of the sessions and the group's continuing growth revealed demand for an offering that participants had been missing.

The community now operates in cities stretching from Chandigarh to Chennai. Its coached football sessions take place two or three times a week, with separate options for beginners and intermediate players. Prices start at about 300 Indian rupees, and participation is open to women of all ages. The sessions accommodate those learning the game for the first time as well as women returning to it.

Each 90-minute session starts with introductions and an explanation from the coach, followed by a warm-up and drills in pairs or groups. A 30-minute game completes the session. That format has remained in place since the original gathering, combining football instruction with opportunities for participants, including newcomers, to get to know one another through playing together.

Hans described the social element as central to the experience. In her account, attending a session can help women build friendships while discovering that football is something they can enjoy and improve at. Sisters in Sweat offers several sports rather than football alone, with the wider aim of encouraging participation and helping women connect through physical activity.

Subbiah told the Guardian that the initiative also addresses barriers faced by women who stop playing sport after school or college. She pointed to household responsibilities and childcare as pressures that reduce personal time, alongside social expectations that discourage outdoor activity. The founders have sought to challenge those pressures by encouraging women to return to recreational sport.