While others wait for the sun to rise, the Morning Ball Club gets a head start by turning out for thrice-weekly basketball games, which players see as an excellent remedy for the winter blues. “Outside it’s still dark and nasty, but in here, you’re breaking a good sweat under bright lights with a great group of guys,” said Alex Little, who joined the club well before he was middle-aged, back during his high school days in the early 1990s. “It’s good therapy.” Port Townsend High School teacher Benjamin Dow joined the Morning Ball Club about a decade ago. “The game has stayed the same since then,” Dow said. “I’ve just gotten slower.” “Nah, the game has sped up,” Little said. “We have a lot more youth than we did 10 years ago.” Scott Wilson, the former head coach and now assistant for the Port Townsend High girls basketball team, credited former county recreation director Warren Sturer, nicknamed “the commissioner,” with starting the Morning Ball Club at least 40 years ago. “It’s all pickup games,” said Wilson, who’s still an active player. “The teams are whoever shows up that day. Warren himself had to stop playing about 10 years ago.” Little believes the number of other older players also calling it quits is part of the reason why the latest lineups have gotten younger. “Some guys just age out of it,” Little said. “And there are fewer basketball opportunities in town than there used to be. There used to be city leagues with multiple divisions. Whenever club members start talking with other folks who are interested in playing basketball, all it takes to recruit them is to convince them to get up early.” The Morning Ball Club lives up to its name. The club meets at the PTHS gym from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and it charges $2 per day, or $15 for a full month. “It’s the most fun way to stay in shape,” Dow said. “Here, you’ve got high school kids playing guys as old at their 70s. It’s awesome.” “Whoever you are, we don’t discriminate,” Little said. “If you’ve got gym shoes and you’re willing to run, we can take you.” To learn more, email Dow at bdow@ptschools.org.