The Haryana Steelers had been named franchise of the 12 months on the CII Sports activities Enterprise Awards 2025. The popularity follows a powerful Season 11 efficiency, guided by coach Manpreet Singh, with key contributions from gamers together with Mohammadreza Shadloui, Shivam Patare, Rahul Sethpal, and Jaideep Dahiya.
The membership’s high-performance programme is constructed on sports activities science, data-driven recruitment, and a transparent pathway by the Steelers Academy and its centres in Rohtak and Jhajjar.
Past the mat, the Steelers’ work locally has grown deeper. The Udaan programme in Panipat, which now engages greater than 160 college kids, has launched kabaddi as an area for confidence-building, life abilities, and conversations round gender and equality. In the meantime, the Faculty and Academy Contact Programme throughout Noida and Hyderabad has crossed 500 kids, opening doorways for younger athletes who could not in any other case have thought of the game.
This season additionally marked a shift in how the crew instructed its tales. By the second version of the Faulad documentary, the Haryana Steelers Journal Cowl, and campaigns mixing native music, model, and kabaddi tradition, the franchise discovered a brand new voice. One which resonated strongly with younger followers. That connection carried over on-line as nicely, with the Steelers changing into the fastest-growing PKL franchise on Instagram and YouTube, main the league in views and general engagement.
The crew garnered over 420M video views and 30M+ engagements, and likewise adopted a creator-led strategy to succeed in new audiences and followers. Partnerships such because the Chhota Bheem collaboration, Stage OTT’s Haryanvi Kaksha, and work with regional creators helped the crew attain deeper into Haryana than ever earlier than. The Season 11 trophy tour throughout Hisar and Rohtak, a ladies’ kabaddi showcase, stay digital interactions, merchandise giveaways turned the win right into a shared celebration throughout the state.
Divyanshu Singh, CEO of Haryana Steelers and JSW Sports activities, mentioned, “Truthfully, this one means lots as a result of it captures the form of 12 months we’ve had. Profitable the title was enormous, after all, however what actually struck us was how folks linked with the crew; whether or not it was by the Faulad movie, the music and tradition round our campaigns, or simply the way in which the boys carried themselves all season.”
“Our digital development shocked us too; it confirmed that followers weren’t simply watching, they had been travelling with us each step. After which there’s the work with kids in Panipat, Noida, Hyderabad… watching them open up, strive new issues, and problem outdated concepts by kabaddi has been extremely grounding. If we’ve managed to make folks pleased with Haryana and given younger youngsters one thing to aspire to, that’s an even bigger win than any trophy. In the end, the endeavour and mission is to function like a year-round membership in Indian kabaddi,” Singh added.
Because the franchise steps into the following section of its journey, aiming to seize extra titles within the coming years and supply a gentle pipeline of expertise to Indian Kabaadi, this award will energise the squad and the backend crew to proceed to excel each on and off the mat.
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