Unattached Are Linked by Athletics

The place: Turtle Rock Community Park in Irvine. The time: last Saturday afternoon. The occasion: an Athletic Singles Assn. volleyball game.

Participants who are sitting a game out gather atop a hill overlooking the outdoor court to chat with their visitor. . . .

Geno Atchison, 43, Huntington Beach, a credit administrator: “I joined because I love sports, and I was tired of not meeting people. There’s no rejection factor here; there’s no pressure. You meet men as well as women; some of these guys have become my buddies.

“I do things with the club about two to three times a week--softball, volleyball, golf, hiking, camping. I don’t have to think about organizing my calendar; there’s always something to do.

“Yep, I’ve met one woman I dated for a while. I had my heart crushed. She’s over there on the tennis courts playing tennis with her boyfriend. But there are some success stories--like Judy and Eric here. They’re engaged.”

Marcia Davis, 41, Laguna Hills, an employment consultant: “Yeah, talk to them; they give the rest of us hope. Four ASA couples have gotten married. And it’s about time Eric and Judy got engaged; they’ve been dating for 2 years.”

Eric Baumgarten, 37, Fountain Valley, a computer systems analyst: ‘We were afraid we’d get kicked out of the club, so we kept putting (the engagement) off as long as possible.”

Judy Statland, 34, Fountain Valley, a loan service manager: “Uh, oh. We’re talking to the press. Does this make us official?”

Baumgarten: “No, THIS makes us official.” (He displays the diamond ring on his fiancee’s left hand.)

Davis: “I joined a couple of years ago basically because I was a couch potato and needed to get out. I love volleyball and tennis and wanted to meet new people. And it worked--I met my best girlfriend. We do things outside of ASA. I’ve made a lot of male friends too, who I can call and say, ‘Let’s go to a movie,’ without its being weird.

“I’d quit participating in ASA for a while until recently. I was out of circulation. When you’re dating someone, the last thing you want to do is bring him to an ASA event. You’re labeled off-the-market.”

Dale Gustavson, 41, Irvine, vice president of an energy management consulting firm: “There’s probably a lot of secret dating going on among ASA members.”

Davis: “There have been a lot of ASA couples who’ve split up and then they’re never seen again.”

Gustavson: “I was dating someone in the club and when we split up, I stayed active and she didn’t. I won custody of the club.”

Nancy Filippo, 34, Yorba Linda, account representative: “Did you give her a refund for her membership?”

Davis: “A neat thing about the club is that dating is not the prime objective. . . .”

Gustavson: “Oh, you lie! It’s the prime objective. It’s just hidden.”

Filippo: “I joined for the sports. The rest is icing on the cake.”

Gustavson: “Most people join to meet someone, but you end up having so much fun with the sports events that you forget why you joined. And about the time you quit looking, you meet someone special. That’s the way life works.

“I understand there was some guy who, immediately after joining, took the membership telephone number list and got on the phone calling every woman in ASA. He ended up dropping out. He just didn’t fit in; that’s not what we’re about.”

Paul Markwell, 49, Colton (formerly of Huntington Beach), real estate broker: “I’d tried other singles clubs, but I always felt like their prime objective was to get lucky for the night. I have no problem with that, but it’s not what I’m looking for.

“I was raising three kids by myself. I’d be home for 6 months straight with them, then all of a sudden I’d want some adult company--but I didn’t know where to meet people.”

Gustavson: “You want to hear why I joined? Because I had to. I’d just gotten a divorce after 17 years of marriage. I was absolutely, totally depressed. All my friends were couples; I didn’t know where to start.

“The therapist I was seeing said, ‘Do something.’ (After seeing an ad,) I picked up the telephone and called ASA and talked to Ed (Reder, the president) and he described the club. Ed said, ‘There’s a dance tonight--why don’t you come to it?’ I did, and for the first 45 minutes, only men showed up. I thought, ‘This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life.’

“Then Betty (one of the members) walked over and said, ‘You’re going to have to dance sooner or later.’ She was just being friendly. She’s an older woman. . . . Uh, she’s Paul’s age (laughter).”

Markwell: “I can keep up with these kids in any sport. It just takes me 3 weeks to recuperate.”

Gustavson: “Anyway, the bottom line as to what I got out of this club--I got myself back.”

And now for the who, what, when, where, why and how much.

San Clemente resident Ed Reder, 33, founded the Athletic Singles Assn. in 1985. “Health clubs gave me the idea,” he said. “The ads obviously were appealing to the single population, yet it’s hard to meet someone at a health club.”

ASA, Reder claimed, provides a relaxed atmosphere in which singles can socialize over sports activities without the pressure of looking for Mr./Ms. Right.

“We’ve totally de-emphasized the boy-meets-girl aspect,” he said. “The club gives people an opportunity to participate in sports without joining a league and committing yourself to show up three times a week. In ASA, you can wait until the last minute to decide whether you want to go bowling tonight.”

At least 10 events take place a week (as weather permits)--tennis, bowling, hiking, sailing, volleyball, windsurfing, bicycling, scuba diving, horseback riding and roller-skating among them. “You never have to sit home,” Reder said. “Everything is planned for you.”

He updates his telephone hot line three times a week to inform members of upcoming events. Often members take the initiative to plan an activity on their own--a weekend hike, for instance. They call Reder, and he adds the outing to his hot line. “We’re very spontaneous,” he said.

Not only Olympian athletes need apply. “We get lots of beginners,” Reder said. “And more than half our events are purely social--dances, parties, barbecues, picnics.”

Reder also organizes group ski trips and Mexican vacations a few times a year. “I’m Club Ed,” he said, jokingly.

ASA has about 500 Orange County-area members and another 300 in its San Diego branch. Membership in the Laguna Hills-based club costs $275, with $175 annual renewals.