<p>It’s 2017. Performance coach Swetha Subbiah is asked to host a football session. Swetha calls on former footballer and friend to Tanvie Hans to help her out. The two call on their girlfriends and a game was held. </p>.<p>Fun as that morning session, Swetha and Tanvie realised that there was scope to turn these sessions into a more regular affair. A WhatsApp group popped up with 17 women as members with focus on football. </p>.<p>On Sunday, Swetha and Tanvie were at GoRally’s pickleball centre in Indiranagar organising what would eventually go onto become the largest congregation of women at a pickleball event in the country with over 50 women in the mix. </p>.<p>Within the arc of this story, one which spans half a decade, Sisters In Sweat has become an institution.</p>.<p>Yes, that’s the name of the WhatsApp group which kicked things off, and it now happens to be the biggest lifestyle and wellness community perpetuated by women and for women.</p>.<p>While they run off-beat shindigs from time to time, the community which has over 6000 active members in Bengaluru alone is predominantly focused on sports. </p>.<p><strong>Various sports</strong></p>.<p>From basketball to football to cricket to 5k runs to rugby to pickleball to tennis... the list is about as extensive as their WhatsApp groups, and each of these groups has the texting frequency of enthusiastic resident welfare groups. </p>.<p>It’s overwhelming at a glance, but SiS has brought in a noticeable change to amateur sport and wellness in the City.</p>.<p>“We have now got funding to expand on the idea which began all those many years ago,” says Swetha.</p>.<p>“We realised that women in India find it hard to find groups of other women to play with even recreationally so we figured that we should set up a community to facilitate that.”</p>.<p>Since kicking things off at their spacious but cozy home in Cooke Town, they have branched out to Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad and are realising similar numbers in each of these centres. </p>.<p>“The focus is on ensuring that women have safe spaces to practice wellness. It could be sport or whatever but they need to be given a space where they don’t feel intimidated,” says Tanvie. “We ourselves had trouble growing up and we wanted to fix it and this seemed like the most feasible option for us. As far as the future is concerned, we will likely introduce more sport as and when the demand comes up and possibly even go onto more centres.”</p>.<p>“...but at the heart of it, we’re still that WhatsApp group that tried to help our friend get a game,” she adds.</p>.<p>Swetha and Tanvie are about as hands on with their strategies as they come, and they seem to have cracked the code on bringing women together to practice wellness in a country where that idea sits low on the priority list. </p>
<p>It’s 2017. Performance coach Swetha Subbiah is asked to host a football session. Swetha calls on former footballer and friend to Tanvie Hans to help her out. The two call on their girlfriends and a game was held. </p>.<p>Fun as that morning session, Swetha and Tanvie realised that there was scope to turn these sessions into a more regular affair. A WhatsApp group popped up with 17 women as members with focus on football. </p>.<p>On Sunday, Swetha and Tanvie were at GoRally’s pickleball centre in Indiranagar organising what would eventually go onto become the largest congregation of women at a pickleball event in the country with over 50 women in the mix. </p>.<p>Within the arc of this story, one which spans half a decade, Sisters In Sweat has become an institution.</p>.<p>Yes, that’s the name of the WhatsApp group which kicked things off, and it now happens to be the biggest lifestyle and wellness community perpetuated by women and for women.</p>.<p>While they run off-beat shindigs from time to time, the community which has over 6000 active members in Bengaluru alone is predominantly focused on sports. </p>.<p><strong>Various sports</strong></p>.<p>From basketball to football to cricket to 5k runs to rugby to pickleball to tennis... the list is about as extensive as their WhatsApp groups, and each of these groups has the texting frequency of enthusiastic resident welfare groups. </p>.<p>It’s overwhelming at a glance, but SiS has brought in a noticeable change to amateur sport and wellness in the City.</p>.<p>“We have now got funding to expand on the idea which began all those many years ago,” says Swetha.</p>.<p>“We realised that women in India find it hard to find groups of other women to play with even recreationally so we figured that we should set up a community to facilitate that.”</p>.<p>Since kicking things off at their spacious but cozy home in Cooke Town, they have branched out to Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad and are realising similar numbers in each of these centres. </p>.<p>“The focus is on ensuring that women have safe spaces to practice wellness. It could be sport or whatever but they need to be given a space where they don’t feel intimidated,” says Tanvie. “We ourselves had trouble growing up and we wanted to fix it and this seemed like the most feasible option for us. As far as the future is concerned, we will likely introduce more sport as and when the demand comes up and possibly even go onto more centres.”</p>.<p>“...but at the heart of it, we’re still that WhatsApp group that tried to help our friend get a game,” she adds.</p>.<p>Swetha and Tanvie are about as hands on with their strategies as they come, and they seem to have cracked the code on bringing women together to practice wellness in a country where that idea sits low on the priority list. </p>