The Canada Summer Games was an intense week of tough competition that included many highs and a heart-breaking low for David Neufeld, a member of the bronze medal-winning Saskatchewan men's basketball team.

Neufeld is the son of former Weyburn resident Eric and Char Neufeld, and grandson of Ernie Neufeld of Weyburn.

The 17-year-old will be going into Grade 12 at Evan Hardy School in Saskatoon this fall.

This was his first year on the provincial men's team, and admitted the experience has whetted his appetite for pursuing basketball at the university level once he graduates.

"Playing at this level just makes me want to play a lot more. You don't get to play in situations very often where every player is as good or better than you are. It was pretty exciting to play in," said Neufeld.

Neufeld played small forward, power forward and post, with the latter position the one he usually played during the Games tournament held in Regina.

"I thought I played pretty good. In our last game, I took a couple shots but didn't get a basket. I thought I played very well," he said.

Neufeld attended two tryouts to make the team, making the cut at the first one in Saskatoon. He was subsequently asked to attend a second tryout in Regina where the group was narrowed down to 20 players.

"Then we played in a tournament just to see how we'd do in real competition," said Neufeld, noting the provincial team played six matches at the Summer Games altogether, including the heart-breaking loss to Quebec in the semi-final, before defeating B.C. in the bronze medal game on Aug. 13.

"The loss was definitely heart-breaking. We were leading the entire game and they ended up winning it in the last few minutes. We got through it and played very well the next day. Against Quebec, I didn't play as much. As I was watching, it seemed they played great. The point guard and the star player did a really good job scoring and sharing the ball. The one guy who hit the three-pointers in the last two minutes didn't hit any shots before that in the game," said Neufeld.

In the bronze medal game, he noted that Saskatchewan was slow at first, down 10 or 12 points in the first quarter. They started to chip away at the lead, and a couple three-pointers brought them right back into contention again.

Asked if he was able to enjoy some of the activities around the Canada Games, Neufeld said most of the team's concentration was on the games and staying focussed.

"Our coaches really wanted us to be prepared, so we had to watch game tapes and practice in the gym and get ourselves ready. We couldn't leave the university grounds by ourselves, so we mostly stayed in our rooms or in the gym," said Neufeld.

Looking back on the intense week, Neufeld said the competition was tough, but he learned a lot as a player, and enjoyed the camaraderie the team-mates had as a squad.

"We were such good friends, it just made everything so much better, just 'cause you could be yourself and not worry what other people were thinking. It just made playing a lot easier. One of our rules to play was always be together. Even if we were feeling low, we were good at getting ourselves back on track and not putting ourselves down," said Neufeld.