Bonding is a Big Goal of Sports Clubs

Orlando Sentinel; Orlando, Fla.; Dec 6, 2001; Stephanie and Hildi; Copyright 2001

Let’s face it – a love of sports bonds.  The connection that happens when two people root for the same team to win the World Series can also occur when we get out there and play sports ourselves.  Running and swimming are my athletic passions.  And Hildi, well, lookout – she’s hitting the gridiron.

Stephanie’s devotion to running this year has inspired me.  I love to be active outdoors as well because it’s beautiful and fun but I like my exercise game-y. So I’m joining the Orlando Sport and Social Club.

Weather you want to bike, swim scuba dive or compete, there’s a Central Florida club doing it, along with plenty of socializing.  I paid $80 in June to join the 26-week OrlandoFit program to train for my first marathon.  I ended up with much more than a medal: lots of memories.

OSSC charges about $50 and you pick your sport. They play volleyball, football, soccer and more every week at fields near you.  Too chicken to join alone?  That’s where the social part comes in.  Monthly happy hours at hip spots help you bond before you play. At my first one last month at Alpha Bar downtown, I never saw so many down-to-earth dateable.

I didn’t find true love in OrlandoFit but met a slew of fun singles with similar interests and life goals.  We’ve compared aches and pains during long runs, partied it up downtown and laughed and cried together.

I brought an outgoing girlfriend and a six pack of Zephyrhills to share when we watched a recent game.  We also brought an American flag to cheer with.  (Didn’t have pom-poms, and I like to wave it.)

You definitely don’t need to be a jock to join these groups.  In OrlandoFit, some train to walk a half-marathon or runwalk a marathon.  I barely finished my first three-miler with the group.  But on Sunday, I crossed the finish line in Tampa – 26.2 miles later – drained but smiling, with hundreds of other runners.

Congratulations, Stephanie!  The Orlando Sport and Social Club has plenty of married couples but the majority is singles.  Women are not just welcome, they’re included.  The rules state that one out of ever three football passes must be thrown to a woman.  The single-elimination playoffs and championship game are coming up, and another year-round season starts in January.

And there are many more groups out there.  I rowed on a crew team in college and was about to join the Orlando Rowing Club when I learned of OrlandoFit.  The rowing club has classes for beginners, and members can use the boasts whenever they want.

And rowers have nice arms to hug you with.

So true.  And then there are the cycling Florida Freewheelers, which I’ve heard described as very Peyton Place (GenXers: Peyton Place is a book/movie/television series about life in a New England Town.  Beneath a placid exterior are secrets involving, among other things, sexual attraction.  Think 1950s Melrose Place).  When should we sign up Hildi? Too late for me.  I just promised the Central Florida chapter of the Florida Trail Association that I’d be recruiting environmentally-minded friends to their free weekend morning hikes and periodic TGIF hikes on Friday nights.  You can work off holiday pounds and see wildlife.  Membership coordinator Cheryl Ellefson told me it’s how she met people and learned the are when she moved here. (She’s single, too.) Two members married during her reign and might soon be raising little nature-loving trailblazers of their own.