PORT ANGELES — The parking lot at the Port Angeles branch of the Olympic Peninsula YMCA rarely has more than a handful of vehicles when six racquetball players start arriving for their 6 a.m. Monday through Friday meetup at the facility’s two courts.
The men, who range in age from 58 to 79, said they look forward to the daily dose of cardio and camaraderie they get from playing for an hour and then going their separate ways.
Carl Gay, 74, and Roy Gotham, 79, are “originals” who started playing together at the old YMCA on Francis Street in 1981.
Gay arrived in Port Angeles in 1979 shortly after graduating from Willamette University School of Law and was working for attorney Brooke Taylor.
The facility may have been even quieter in the morning than it is now.
“The staff gave us a key because nobody else was working out at 6 in the morning,” Gay said. “Just us and some guys who played volleyball.”
Gotham moved to Port Angeles in 1979, as well. He managed Peoples department store and later Lamonts, which occupied the building that is now Country Aire Natural Foods.
In 1986, Gotham and his wife, Mary, purchased the Toggery and ran it until retiring in 2011. The Toggery, now the site of J.Ryan Salon & Boutique, was a true men’s and ladies’ clothing store. If your pants were too long, its tailor shop would hem them. It sold blazers, Boy Scout uniforms and letter jackets. You could buy a dress or rent a tuxedo for the senior ball.
The YMCA when Gay and Gotham played racquetball there was the former Port Angeles Hospital, later to become Olympic Memorial Hospital and then Olympic Medical Center.
“In those days, the courts were in pretty bad shape,” Gay said.
Starting in 1986, Gay and the late Mac Ruddell led a $1 million capital campaign to build a new YMCA on the site of the old one.
The demolition and construction forced Gay, Gotham and other players to relocate to the Elks Lodge, which had Port Angeles’ only other racquetball courts.
“We had to become Elks so we could play there,” Gay said.
When the new YMCA opened in 1988, it had three brand-new courts that also are used for handball, although one court has since been converted to a classroom.
Jerry Allen, 69, the CEO of 7 Cedars Casino, began playing racquetball at Eastern Washington University but was a real “basketball junkie.” Before COVID, he was a regular at morning pick-up basketball games at the YMCA, which ended with COVID.
Then he had knee replacement surgery. Three years ago, he gave up basketball for good.
“Racquetball is a great workout and it’s not as hard on your body,” he said.
That doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt.
“One time I was hit with the ball so hard, I had to look for an exit wound,” Gay said.
On another occasion, a player hit him on the head with racquet so hard he had to go to the hospital for stitches.
Frank Burke met Gay and Gotham at the Elks Lodge courts. But like Allen, he was a basketball junkie who found the pace was getting faster … and he wasn’t.
Not that the morning racquetball games are exactly low-key.
“These guys are pretty good players,” said, Burke, 76, who is retired from the company he owned, Northwest Carpet Installation.
There also is friendly pressure when someone skips a day.
“When you don’t show up, they’re on your back about it,” Gotham said.
Henry Pimentel, a retired millwright who worked at Rayonier and Nippon Paper Industries, also switched from basketball to racquetball when he joined the group
“I just love the game,” said Pimentel, 70. “It’s a great workout and great camaraderie.”
At 58 years old, Todd German is the youngster of the group. After retiring from the Port Angeles Fire Department, he began working part time for Allen, who introduced him to the game. German now plays racquetball on Tuesdays and swims the other days of the week at the YMCA’s Sequim branch to stay in shape.
German said he respects the ability of the players, who sometimes kid him about his age.
“Sometimes I can’t keep up with them,” he said.
The players said theirs isn’t a club, just an informal group which enjoys each other’s company and friendly competition. New players were welcome to join as long as they understand that attitude is more valued than ability.
“We always invite people to come play with us,” Gay said. “But some people have been asked not to return.”
They do keep score and there is good-natured ribbing about missed shots and double bounces, Gay said.
“These are a good group of guys,” he said. “And we know it’s just a game.”
________
Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
