Shea Simmons
It’s no real secret that meeting new people can be difficult. Sure, there are dating apps and alumni mixers from your university, but putting yourself out there to make friends (or let’s be honest, find a date) can be scary. Turns out, there’s a low-key, casual way to do so: bowling leagues.
Philip Mutz, a writer for the site PureWow, posits that a bowling league is an ideal way to meet people and potentially make romantic connections. He explains that he’s been in a relationship for the past three years, and it’s the “how” of he and his partner’s story that people are most interested in as they did, in fact, meet while bowling.
Mutz runs down seven (yes, a full seven) reasons why a bowling league is a solution to your social woes. Frankly, he makes a pretty compelling argument. Don’t know what to talk about? Not sure how to meet new people? Hate getting stuck in an awkward conversation with no way out? Mutz insists bowling is the solution to all your problems. For example, number three on his list:
You always have a way out of the conversation.
Yup. Every five minutes, guess what? It’s your turn to bowl! That means you’ll never be stuck in an awkward conversation for more than a few minutes at a time. And if the conversation is going well, you get to leave your potential new honey wanting more as you go up to bowl with a “Be right back.”
If the idea sounds strange to you, maybe it shouldn’t. Back in 2015, MIC conducted a survey of 2,373 people aged 18-34 asking how they met their significant others. Turns out, 39% of the participants met their partner via mutual friends, which means if you know someone in a bowling league, now is certainly a time to go.
The other participants weren’t exactly far removed from a bowling league experience either. 22% were introduced in a “social setting”—like a bowling league perhaps? Mix in the mutual-friends angle with the social setting angle, and it sounds like a recipe for success.
Curious about joining your own bowling league now? Check out the rest of Mutz’s reasons to join over on PureWow and find your own local group.
