Athleticism -> popularity? Options

[sixfive]

Do y'all think that being athletic will in turn make you more popular, superficially or not?

I started playing soccer again a few weeks ago. The group I play with isn't exactly what you would call experienced with the sport. Since I've played it my whole life, it's safe to say that I'm considerably better than the majority of them (2-3 of them also play soccer). Regardless, I just started hanging out with this group of people again, too, and since I'm always one of the better players on the field, I've noticed an increase in popularity from this group. I'm not saying that this bothers me or that my ego's hurting, because believe me it's not.

Regardless.

[mipadi]

Do you mean, around other athletes, or in general? Because your situation basically boils down to "I hang out with people who all do the same thing, but I happen to be better at it," in which case it depends on whether you're smug about it (then you probably won't be popular) or modest about it (then the others will probably respect your skill).

If you mean in general, then no, I don't think athleticism directly correlates to popularity.