Athlete Dating

We’ve all heard the stories. At least one of our close friend’s has shared their online dating disaster epic. It starts out rather benign. They were connected via a website. They both liked the survey results of the other. Pictures are exchanged and a hopeful confirmation of those pictures gained. The first date begins to unfold; where to go, what to do and how to get there are all figured out and planned. They meet. Either the person looks nothing like their picture or he/she ends up being a jerk. The date then begins to unravel. Someone either gets left at the Lobster Shack restaurant, or leaves violently with their tires screeching. But these are probably normal people. They go to work, eat, sleep and watch T.V. So what happens with athletes? How do they fare?

Active.com is one of the premiere event registration websites. They also tout an active singles tool. You can visit it here. Starting the process is easy enough. For a quick tour you can enter your name, address, birth date and zip code. Up will pop an athlete match query result. He or She will match closely to your age and location. If you go a bit further then the website becomes a bit more useful. Advanced tools become available. According to Match.com’s website these tools are where it’s at! They claim to have generated love nearly 200,000 times last year, alone. So it must be possible for an athlete to find love on Match.com.

Is a match made in heaven created on match.com’s ‘active singles’ website part of every athlete’s dream? Can we detail our dream girl or boy via Match.com’s survey tool? As a cyclist, should I ask a potential match how long they can ride? Could I ask her if the perfect date revolves around wind sprints? Is that romantic?

As an athlete I can attest to the trouble of finding love. Most of the dateable people are not hardened athletes. They do not refrain from consuming alcohol. They overeat, sleep in and – let’s face it – enjoy life. Finding love means dating someone involved in your sport, or going out to the smoky bars. It is a love/hate relationship. Mostly, as an athlete, you’re not going to venture out to bars. Secondly, the person who shares your exact interest may not appeal to you. Many of us are too busy to find love, anyway. We make excuses, or are too inexperienced to actually make an attempt (too much time on the bike will do that). This leaves the door open to services like Match.com.

I asked around. At first, I was at a loss. I could not find a single person who had accessed the Match.com website for a date. Maybe it was the stigma of being associated with the site. Finally, I found someone who had used Match.com. Naturally, the person shall remain anonymous.

According to her story, Match.com’s ‘active singles’ site was very useful. In fact, she stated that the system was good at using stories relevant to the outdoor lifestyle to attract her to the site more often. She finally committed to using the system. She was able, in some cases, to find out how much the other person was into the outdoors. She asked about the things they do. She also asked how much they do it. Finally, she asked how passionate they were about their preferred outdoor pursuit. In the end, my friend expressed appreciation about the system. As of late, she has not found a date.

It must be then that Match.com is the only answer for an athlete. Fortunately, I knew my match when I saw her for the first time. I didn’t use an online dating system. I used my incredible charm and massive biceps to lure her to me. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. I say, go ahead and match.com-it. As a competitive athlete you’re probably not use to losing, so how hard can it be?