Scoring a goal

English football club Manchester City FC has collaborated with Bengaluru-based Sisters in Sweat to push more women to take up sport
Members of Sisters in Sweat during a practice session of football and basketball
Members of Sisters in Sweat during a practice session of football and basketball

BENGALURU: When Sisters in Sweat (SIS), a citybased sports community, w a s formed around six years ago, the founders wanted to create a space for women to play football. Now, they are making waves internationally. Manchester City FC collaborated with Sisters in Sweat to tell their story, making the city-based community the first and only one from India to have got this opportunity. The 142-year-old English football club not only shared SIS’ journey on their Instagram page but have also sponsored recent tournaments.

For co-founder of the community Swetha Subbiah, the acknowledgement means a great deal since they are aiming to make sport more accessible to women. “It feels surreal that our story has been featured on the Man City social media page. We never imagined this when we started out. I am extremely grateful for the way things have panned out,” says an excited Subbiah, adding that they al s o shared the story of another member of the community and how SIS has had an impact on her.

Manchester City is one of the pioneers in identifying that women’s sports gets far less attention than men’s. Earlier, they used separate Instagram accounts for the men’s and women’s teams but around six years ago, they decided to make it a level-playing field — at least on social media — and began using one single account to promote the sport.

“Post that, they launched the ‘Same Goals’ campaign to promote equality in sport. Soon after, they went around the world to identify communities working towards similar goals. “And this year, they identified SIS in India. They wanted to collaborate with us because our work was in line with their ‘Same Goals’ campaign,” says Subbiah, adding that as part of the collaboration, they have also sponsored a tournament for them.

Subbiah recalls growing up in Bengaluru where football was not even an option for women in sports. “Being a contact sport, football was something many stayed away from. But we feel we have managed to provide a space for women where they can feel comfortable to play a sport like this,” she says.

They’ve received validation for their work through participants and their families. Subbiah tells us of an incident when a young boy asked his mother — a member of SIS — a thought-provoking question. “When the Karnataka women’s league was happening, she took her son to watch the game as well. And her son asked her, “Do boys also play football?”. It was such a powerful statement to make because her little boy assumed that football was a game for girls” says Subbiah.

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The New Indian Express
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