Does Playing a Sport make you more Attractive to Potential Dates?

An active person is also an attractive person, according to dating site CoffeeMeetsBagel.com, which connects Facebook users to friends of friends to see if there's any romantic interest.

In a recent study of over 68,000 matches who use the service in both Boston and New York, they found that one third of the people who matched mentioned playing a sport in their profiles. And they weren't just people in their twenties - the company found that people in their thirties and forties were equally active and interested in sports when they outlined what they were looking for in a partner. Maybe we're all a bit more inspired because of the recent Olympic games?

Researchers at the company also found that there are gender preferences for what sports are most attractive in a partner. If you are a woman, playing golf makes you 41% more desirable by men vs. those who don't play, followed by skiing (16% more) and working out (14% more). Male football players (or football fans) are 38% more likely to get LIKED than men who are not, followed by cyclists (22% more) and basketball players (19% more).

Even though these sports made the top list of what others found attractive, according to the study the most popular sport for both men and women to participate in was running. After that, their tastes differed - women went for yoga and hiking while men went for tennis and basketball.

Some other interesting findings:

• The more educated you are, the more athletic you are (contradicting the stereotype), with 33% of PhDs mentioning a sport in their profiles compared to 29% with Bachelors degrees and 17% with high school diplomas.
• Men and women mentioned 70% of the same sports in their profiles, including skiing, football, biking, and working out.
• More women mentioned liking football than men.
• Golf wasn't among the top 10 sports that women like.
• Swimming wasn't among the top 10 sports that men like.

While I'm not planning on joining a golfing league any time soon, it might be worth it to give sports a chance. Do you miss those days of playing softball, kickball, swimming, or just going for a hike? Then make a decision to try it out and see how you like it now. It's worth it to stay active by doing something you enjoy, and perhaps something you can share with a future romantic partner (though this isn't a requirement of course). Have fun!