The Man Behind ShubhGrow Hisar Heroes: How Rajesh Rathee Is Turning a Kabaddi Franchise Into a Movement

From entrepreneurship to the kabaddi mat, Rajesh Rathee’s journey with ShubhGrow Hisar Heroes is driven by a larger ambition — to create opportunities for athletes, celebrate Haryana’s sporting culture and build a franchise with a legacy beyond the scoreboard.

Hisar, Haryana: In Haryana, sport is not merely a pastime. It is part of the culture, identity and everyday aspirations of thousands of young people. From village grounds to national arenas, the state has consistently produced athletes who have gone on to represent India on some of the biggest sporting stages.

Kabaddi, in particular, occupies a special place in this sporting landscape.

It is against this backdrop that Rajesh Rathee, entrepreneur and founder of ShubhGrow Capital, has embarked on a new journey — one that takes his vision beyond business and into the world of professional sport through Shubh Grow Hisar Heroes.

For Rathee, owning a kabaddi franchise is not simply about building a competitive team. It is about creating a platform where talent can find opportunity, young athletes can find inspiration and an entire sporting community can find something to call its own.

When Business Vision Meets Sporting Passion

Rathee’s professional journey has been built around entrepreneurship, strategic thinking and long-term growth. Through ShubhGrow Capital, he has worked across financial services, real estate consulting and customised investment solutions, developing an understanding of how sustainable businesses are built.

But sport offers a different kind of challenge.

Here, numbers and balance sheets are only part of the equation. There is emotion, identity, community and an intangible connection between a team and its supporters.

That is precisely what makes ShubhGrow Hisar Heroes significant for Rathee.

He sees the franchise as a long-term investment not only in sport, but in people.

The idea is simple yet powerful: give talent a platform, give communities a team to believe in and give the next generation a reason to dream.

Hisar Heroes: More Than a Name

A franchise derives its identity from more than its logo or jersey. It is built through the players who represent it, the supporters who stand behind it and the values that define it.

For Rathee, the name Hisar Heroes carries that responsibility.

The franchise is intended to represent the spirit of Hisar and the wider sporting culture of Haryana — a culture known for determination, discipline, physical strength and an uncompromising competitive attitude.

But Rathee’s vision goes beyond celebrating what Haryana has already achieved.

He wants to contribute to what comes next.

The next generation of athletes may possess the talent, but talent alone is rarely enough. Access to professional opportunities, exposure, coaching, mentorship and competitive platforms can often determine how far a young athlete’s journey goes.

This is where Rathee believes a franchise can make a difference.

Giving Young Players a Bigger Dream

For a young kabaddi player, stepping onto a professional mat can represent years of hard work.

Behind every successful athlete are countless hours of training, early mornings, physical setbacks, family sacrifices and the constant pursuit of improvement.

Rathee wants Hisar Heroes to become part of that journey.

The objective is to create an environment in which emerging athletes can see professional kabaddi not as a distant dream, but as a realistic career opportunity.

The franchise’s larger vision is therefore rooted in player development and empowerment.

A successful team, in Rathee’s view, should not only produce winners. It should produce role models.

Athletes who can inspire children in schools, villages and local sporting academies to pick up the sport and believe that they too can reach the highest level.

“Everyone Associated With This Team Is a Hero”

For Rathee, the word Hero is not restricted to the players wearing the Hisar Heroes jersey.

It includes coaches, support staff, fans, young athletes, families and everyone contributing to the growth of the team and the sport.

As he puts it:

“Hisar Heroes is all about holding a strong belief in our players, our culture, and our people. If we can inspire even a few young athletes to chase their dreams and grow as future players in kabaddi, we’ve already achieved something meaningful. It’s about creating pathways, building role models, and showing that with the right vision, local talent can shine on the biggest stages. Everyone associated with this team is a hero for us.”

The statement captures the philosophy behind the franchise.

It is not simply a commercial property.

It is being built around a sense of belonging.

The Bigger Business of Building Sport

Indian sport has undergone a significant transformation over the past decade. Professional leagues have created new commercial opportunities while also giving athletes greater visibility and financial avenues.

Kabaddi has been at the heart of this transformation.

The emergence of professional kabaddi has changed how the sport is perceived, creating a bridge between its traditional grassroots popularity and the modern sports-entertainment ecosystem.

For entrepreneurs like Rathee, this creates an opportunity to participate in a sector where business and social impact can coexist.

A well-managed sporting franchise can generate commercial value, but its influence can extend much further — into youth development, community engagement, sponsorship, employment and the promotion of sporting culture.

That is the space in which Rathee wants Hisar Heroes to operate.

Building a Legacy, Not Just a Season

In professional sport, results are often judged match by match.

A win changes the mood. A defeat creates questions. A tournament can make or break momentum.

But Rathee’s vision appears to be measured on a longer timeline.

He is looking at what Hisar Heroes can become over several seasons rather than what it can achieve in a single campaign.

That means developing a strong identity, building relationships with supporters, creating commercial partnerships and, most importantly, developing a culture in which athletes want to be associated with the franchise.

The ambition is to create something that can outlive individual players, coaches and seasons.

A sporting institution.

Haryana’s Sporting DNA

Haryana’s contribution to Indian sport is difficult to ignore.

The state has consistently produced athletes across disciplines, and its sporting culture has become a source of national pride.

Kabaddi fits naturally into this environment.

Its roots are deeply connected to India’s rural sporting traditions, where physical endurance, agility and teamwork have long been celebrated.

Hisar Heroes has the opportunity to connect that traditional sporting DNA with the contemporary professional sports industry.

For Rathee, that connection is perhaps one of the most important aspects of the project.

The challenge is to preserve the soul of the sport while creating modern pathways for athletes to succeed.

A Vision That Extends Beyond the Mat

Ultimately, the story of Hisar Heroes is also the story of what happens when an entrepreneur decides to invest in an idea that has emotional and social significance.

Rajesh Rathee brings the mindset of a businessman to the franchise, but his stated ambition goes beyond commercial returns.

He wants young athletes to have opportunities.

He wants the community to feel represented.

He wants the franchise to create role models.

And he wants Hisar Heroes to become synonymous with the sporting spirit of the region.

The road ahead will undoubtedly bring its share of challenges. Professional sport demands patience, investment, planning and resilience.

But every sporting legacy begins with a vision.

For Rajesh Rathee, that vision is now wearing the colours of Hisar Heroes.

And if the journey unfolds as he imagines it, the franchise may eventually be remembered not simply for the matches it won, but for the dreams it helped create.

Because sometimes, the biggest victory in sport is not lifting a trophy. It is giving someone the belief that they can one day lift it themselves.