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: âI joined because I love sports, and I was tired of not meeting people. Thereâs no rejection factor here; thereâs no pressure. You meet men as well as women; some of these guys have become my buddies.
âI do things with the club about two to three times a week--softball, volleyball, golf, hiking, camping. I donât have to think about organizing my calendar; thereâs always something to do.
âYep, Iâve met one woman I dated for a while. I had my heart crushed. Sheâs over there on the tennis courts playing tennis with her boyfriend. But there are some success stories--like Judy and Eric here. Theyâre engaged.â
Marcia Davis, 41, Laguna Hills, an employment consultant: âYeah, talk to them; they give the rest of us hope. Four ASA couples have gotten married. And itâs about time Eric and Judy got engaged; theyâve been dating for 2 years.â
Eric Baumgarten, 37, Fountain Valley, a computer systems analyst: âWe were afraid weâd get kicked out of the club, so we kept putting (the engagement) off as long as possible.â
Judy Statland, 34, Fountain Valley, a loan service manager: âUh, oh. Weâre talking to the press. Does this make us official?â
Baumgarten: âNo, THIS makes us official.â (He displays the diamond ring on his fianceeâs left hand.)
Davis: âI 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. Iâve made a lot of male friends too, who I can call and say, âLetâs go to a movie,â without its being weird.
âIâd quit participating in ASA for a while until recently. I was out of circulation. When youâre dating someone, the last thing you want to do is bring him to an ASA event. Youâre labeled off-the-market.â
Dale Gustavson, 41, Irvine, vice president of an energy management consulting firm: âThereâs probably a lot of secret dating going on among ASA members.â
Davis: âThere have been a lot of ASA couples whoâve split up and then theyâre never seen again.â
Gustavson: âI was dating someone in the club and when we split up, I stayed active and she didnât. I won custody of the club.â
Nancy Filippo, 34, Yorba Linda, account representative: âDid you give her a refund for her membership?â
Davis: âA neat thing about the club is that dating is not the prime objective. . . .â
Gustavson: âOh, you lie! Itâs the prime objective. Itâs just hidden.â
Filippo: âI joined for the sports. The rest is icing on the cake.â
Gustavson: âMost 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. Thatâs the way life works.
âI 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 didnât fit in; thatâs not what weâre about.â
Paul Markwell, 49, Colton (formerly of Huntington Beach), real estate broker: âIâd 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 itâs not what Iâm looking for.
âI was raising three kids by myself. Iâd be home for 6 months straight with them, then all of a sudden Iâd want some adult company--but I didnât know where to meet people.â
Gustavson: âYou want to hear why I joined? Because I had to. Iâd just gotten a divorce after 17 years of marriage. I was absolutely, totally depressed. All my friends were couples; I didnât know where to start.
âThe therapist I was seeing said, âDo something.â (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, âThereâs a dance tonight--why donât you come to it?â I did, and for the first 45 minutes, only men showed up. I thought, âThis is the dumbest thing Iâve ever done in my life.â
âThen Betty (one of the members) walked over and said, âYouâre going to have to dance sooner or later.â She was just being friendly. Sheâs an older woman. . . . Uh, sheâs Paulâs age (laughter).â
Markwell: âI can keep up with these kids in any sport. It just takes me 3 weeks to recuperate.â
Gustavson: âAnyway, the bottom line as to what I got out of this club--I got myself back.â
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. âHealth clubs gave me the idea,â he said. âThe ads obviously were appealing to the single population, yet itâs hard to meet someone at a health club.â
ASA, Reder claimed, provides a relaxed atmosphere in which singles can socialize over sports activities without the pressure of looking for Mr./Ms. Right.
âWeâve totally de-emphasized the boy-meets-girl aspect,â he said. âThe 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.â
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. âYou never have to sit home,â Reder said. âEverything is planned for you.â
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. âWeâre very spontaneous,â he said.
Not only Olympian athletes need apply. âWe get lots of beginners,â Reder said. âAnd more than half our events are purely social--dances, parties, barbecues, picnics.â
Reder also organizes group ski trips and Mexican vacations a few times a year. âIâm Club Ed,â 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.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.