Time for some sports. The idea behind this decathlon date is to have a whole day of athletic activities planned so that you not only get a good workout, you get to spend a lot of time together as well. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?
You can plan this with a group of friends, which is great if you’re playing something that needs more people. The events are up to you, but the point is to do several sports for one date. You might want to start at the climbing gym, then head to the sand volleyball courts or the beach for some volleyball, then over to the park to play ultimate Frisbee or Frisbee golf. Speaking of golf, you can then go to a mini-golf place, then at the end of the day head to a pool and swim, play water polo, or just relax in the hot tub. This could involve combining some of the other date ideas from this blog.
It’s really up to you how you plan the events. It would be good to plan sports that are a little different from each other so you’re not always running—a good mix will allow you to make a whole day of it. Also, make sure to allow time for food breaks. Don’t want your date to get “hangry,” do you?
Unusual Sports
Make it even more interesting by planning weird sports instead of the conventional ones. Instead of football do foosball; instead of volleyball do Wallyball; most people have played mini-golf, play bocce ball instead. You get the idea. If you are competitive you can come up with a points system or something throughout each of the activities and have a prize for the winners. The decathlon date mixes sports with creativity!
This date also works well with just you and your significant other, it doesn’t have to be only with a group date setting.
What you need for this decathlon date:
This one is easy to figure out—if you are going to play football, make sure to have a football, and so on. Put everything in your trunk for easy access during the day. If there are places like a climbing gym that you will go to, just make sure they will be open during that time that you plan on being there. Are you going to eat out the whole day? Or maybe you want to make food together? It is totally up to you.
My commentary on this date:
The decathlon date is something I thought up while in the process of writing this book. I thought to myself, “What kinds of things do I enjoy doing?” I then rattled off a bunch of activities that were sports-related, put them together and called it a decathlon date. Pretty creative, eh?
The trick to an incredibly successful, tremendously delightful date is to pick someone that likes all of the sports you’re going to play. Maybe you can be sneaky and do your homework beforehand to find out what kind of sports they like, or use some get-to-know-you questions to get your answer. You can do this kind of date with your spouse, as well; in which case you probably already know what kind of sports to plan.
The number of sports you do for one date isn’t the most important thing; it can be ten, or it can be two. What’s big is who you’re with and how much fun you have. Recently, I drove about an hour-and-a-half one way to meet a girl whom I had been conversing with online. We met for lunch and then went and played tennis. She actually was a collegiate tennis player and . . . let’s just say I got my butt kicked.
After, we played another game right there on the tennis court, and again, got my butt kicked. While it wasn’t exactly a decathlon and was only two activities, it was quite the workout. Such a fun date—I texted her a few days later to see if she wanted to go out again, but it turns out she’d decided to start dating someone else exclusively. Such is life.
Watch this video I made for the Decathlon Date idea
Do you have experience with this creative date idea? Let me know in the comments how it went and if your date, spouse, significant other liked it. You can buy a copy of the book 101 Creative Dates: ideas, tips, and personal experiences from the life of a hopeless romantic here or visit the shop.
Here are other creative date ideas you might like: