The Cupertino Courier
Community
Photograph by Cera Renault
Shirley and Dick Greif began dating 12 years ago when they met at a dance and Shirley asked him to play tennis with her. The couple still play tennis around three times a week.
Courting couple found love match
By Cody Kraatz
Shirley and Dick Greif say relationships are strengthened by sports that a couple can enjoy playing together. Before they got married three years ago, they did much of their courting through Bay Area Tennis for Singles.
"BATS had a big part to play in it," says Shirley. Although the couple met at a Menlo Park Presbyterian Church dance, the fact that they both play tennis sealed the deal and gave them a chance to really get to know each other.
"You get to watch them in action, in a kind of mini real-life situation," says Dick. "It's not like going to a bar, which is totally artificial and potentially dangerous."
The couple says BATS, founded in the early 1980s, and other social tennis groups are a safe way to look over a field of potential partners who have common interests. While the club did not work out for some of the friends they have invited, it brings singles into a network that may help them meet someone.
The Greifs, who were both divorced after being married for about 35 years, were looking for someone to spend time with and possibly start a long-term relationship. Each has children and grandchildren.
Shirley, already a BATS member, says she knew she wanted someone she could play tennis with, and invited Dick into the club.
"I sort of revived my tennis career," he says. "If we met someone today who was single and looking for a partner, one of the first things we'd ask is, 'Do you play tennis?'"
Bob Merrick, BATS president, says the club's 85 members range from 45 to 80 years old and come for many reasons.
"I think a lot of them are interested in tennis and the exercise and social aspect of it," while others are earnestly looking for love, he says.
Merrick is in a relationship with a woman who does not play tennis, but he has been an avid BATS player for seven years. He was widowed in 1999, and Dick invited him into the club.
Dick, 72, and Shirley, slightly younger, agree that some people their age say they're done with dating.
"Sometimes the longer you're single, the harder it is to see yourself in a long-term relationship," says Shirley. She and Dick say tennis is one of the best-kept sports secrets because it is great exercise, courts are inexpensive and accessible and almost anyone can play it, even as they age.
BATS holds tournaments at various parks around Santa Clara County, including Sunnyvale's Las Palmas Park, and has members from Los Gatos to San Carlos. A lot of members live in Cupertino and Sunnyvale, said Merrick, a Cupertino resident who hosts weekly play at the tennis court in his backyard.
After playing, the group goes to dinner either at a restaurant or at one of the members' homes to focus on the social end of the club.
Shirley and Dick say beginners should think about lessons before joining.
"Tennis has such a long learning curve," says Merrick, who suggests members be at least average players, often denoted as 3.0 by the U.S. Tennis Association.
The search for tennis partners extends beyond BATS. A search for tennis in the activities section of the South Bay Craigslist at sfbay. craigslist.org produces numerous postings seeking tennis partners, if not romantic partners.
Contact Sheri Norbosh at sherinorbosh@aol.com for more information or to join BATS. For lessons, call Lifetime Tennis at the Cupertino Sports Center, 21111 Stevens Creek Blvd., at 408.777.3169 or visit lifetimetennis.com. Or call the Sunnyvale Tennis Center, 755 S. Mathilda Ave., at 408.732.2130.
