Best Sports to Meet Singles

Here's a hot tip that can improve not only your heart-rate but your love life: sports are a great way to meet singles.

Apart from the promise of dating someone with a six-pack rather than a beer belly, sports offer a (wait for it) level playing field for both available men and women. There are tons of sexy singles in sports, and many of them have one eye on the ball and the other on their fetching teammates.

Here are some of the best sports to meet someone special.

Co-ed Volleyball

Alison Farina has been playing in the Winnipeg Co-ed Volleyball League for the past two years and says that the potential to meet a hottie when playing is huge.

"There are up to 12 people in your team, up to 10 teams per tier in a league and you are only separated from the other team by a net. I've flirted a lot through that net," says Farina, who met her current boyfriend at a game.

Both male and female Lavalife members (and Click Magazine readers) voted volleyball the best sport to play and meet hot singles. This sexy sport got 61 percent of the 2,519 votes collected (65 percent of guys voted it numero uno compared to 57 percent of girls).

If it's hot you are looking for, find a league near you -- Farina says that if you're attracted to the athletic type then you're golden, especially playing in the upper levels of the game.

Snowboarding*

Whether it's on the slopes, while sharing a gondola or lift, or in the after-boarding bar scene, snowboarders have lots of opportunities to hook-up. Lisa Greene lived at Whistler for seven years, and says that she met lots of great guys while boarding, including her husband.

"Because people ride together in groups, you end up meeting lots of friends of friends with similar interests to yours," Greene says, "so there are lots of chances to meet someone you'll like."

Ultimate Frisbee*

This highly popular non-traditional sport is played by hip young urban professionals across Canada, and it's a great place to look for love. Jenny Cross plays in an ultimate Frisbee league at the Toronto Sport and Social Club, which is where she met her husband (she actually met him on the first night she went to play).

There are 10 people on a team, and Cross says that often other people get their friends to sub in so there are plenty of new faces from one game to the next. "You build up a great rapport with your teammates, and we always go out for drinks afterwards," says Cross, "I know lots of couples who connected playing Ultimate."

Golf

A respectable 15 percent of the Lavalifers (18 percent of girls and 12 percent of guys) who voted in our poll said that golf was the best sport to play and meet singles. Golf is certainly a sport where you'll met a certain kind of single, i.e. those with a bit of cash (course fees and a decent set of clubs don't come cheap) and a real dedication to this game. Jessica Gottlieb, who lives in L.A., says "golf is a wonderful sport with great clothes and it's expensive. If you're husband hunting it narrows the hunt."

Tennis

Tennis came third in our Lavalife poll with 13 percent of the votes (11 percent of girls, 13 percent of guys) for the best sport to play and meet singles. But there are fans out there. Tennis is sexy because it's playful and fun, says Cathy Jones, who plays at the Waeg, a club in Halifax with some 6,000 members. "One night a week is mixed doubles night and you get a chance to play with lots of different people because your team gets switched up every 20 minutes or so. When you go every week, you get to know people, so it's a great spot to meet other single people that actually like to do something healthy in their free time."

Soccer

Playing soccer ranked as the least popular sport in our Lavalife poll, gaining just 11 percent of the total votes (14 percent of girls and 8 percent of guys thought it was the best sport to play and meet singles) but it's another great team sport where you are competing against lots of different people all the time. The (often boozy) social scene after games is a huge part of why playing co-ed soccer is a great place to potentially meet your next big fling.

Running*

For sheer numbers alone, running is a great sport to meet other attractive single. Eric Jarvis says that on a Sunday morning, his local The Running Room store in Halifax is jam-packed with singles, though there are usually lots more women than men.

"It's literally elbow to elbow," he says, "there can be 150 people meeting every Sunday morning, then there are all kinds of groups that split off to run different distances and paces. You can totally change your pace to join the group of someone you find attractive and when running there are plenty of opportunities to talk to them. Plus, there's always a big group of us heading to a local restaurant for breakfast or coffee after we've run and I've met lots of great ladies that way."

Spinning/ Boot-camp/ Hot Yoga*

Super-intense fitness classes are good for meeting people who take their bodies very seriously and consequently have great ones. You get to know a group of strangers you might not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise and there's a certain camaraderie that flows after you watch each other really pushing your bodies. Calgary's Uke Bruin says that he's met lots of women in Bikram Yoga classes. "It's great," he says, "every class is full of hot, sweaty, sexy chicks!"

Sailing*

Vancouverite Gareth Freeman has been sailing for the past five years, and says that there are plenty of singles in the sailing scene, and the heady mix of drama and adrenaline that comes from crewing a boat with up to 12 people means that people often connect in very intimate ways. "Plus, we all go for drinks afterwards, so there is even more time to get to know your teammates," he says.

As glamorous as this sport looks to outsiders, Freeman says that its remarkably easy for even those who never sailed before to join in. "It's as simple as finding out what yacht clubs hear you do races and asking where you go to start crewing," he says.