Damon Dutton has experience going up against other basketball players from around Canada.
This time, he’ll be doing it on a much bigger stage.
The Grade 11 student at North Battleford Comprehensive High School will be part of Saskatchewan’s team that will be competing at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg from July 29 to August 4.
“It’s started to settle in a little bit that I’ll be going there and I’m really excited about it,” Dutton said.
“It’ll be a bit of a different atmosphere than the national tournaments I’ve been to in the past, which should make the whole week a pretty memorable one with all of the athletes there from the other sports.”
Dutton is one of three players on the 12-man roster that doesn’t reside in either Regina or Saskatoon.
The other two players who aren’t from those two major centres are Moose Jaw’s Jett Kowlachuk and Matthew Mandziuk of Yorkton.
“We’re pretty sure that this is the first time that someone from our school has gone to the Canada Games to play basketball,” Vikings senior boys basketball head coach Jamie Sommerfeld said. “The perfect storm has to happen for that to take place, especially with the event taking place every four years.
“Damon’s at the top end of his age group and he’s had the drive and dedication to take part in the extra camps to give him a chance to be on the Saskatchewan teams. As well, I think the fact that our school has started to play at the 5A level at Hoopla has really helped give him and our other players more exposure.”
Dutton, who also plays football for the Vikings as a starting quarterback, played for Saskatchewan at the U15 national championships two years ago in Halifax.
“Seeing the other players from around the country really helped me to focus on what I needed to do in practice to make sure that I was in good shape to play against them,” said Dutton, who will be playing mostly on the wing at the Canada Games.
“We’ve been together as a group for quite a bit now and we’re a pretty unselfish team. It doesn’t matter who scores the basket. We’re all on the same page and we don’t want to take any possessions off.”
Saskatchewan’s first game will take place on Saturday, July 29 against the Yukon.
