This past week Garden Valley Collegiate (GVC) in Winkler celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, and part of the celebration was the schools annual alumni basketball tournament. Jon Gossen, who was part of the 1981 graduating class has been coming home for this tournament since it started.

"I think it's the community. It's just a privilege to be here. This place (GVC) did so much for me as a kid. My teachers, I think of Don Bell and Al Loeppky, they were my coaches. They poured in a lot of time with me. Ultimately I played a higher level (of basketball), but I always look back and think my best times were in high school," said Gossen, who is now a business teacher and basketball coach at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute (MBCI) in Winnipeg.

Gossen noted he is extremely proud to be from Winkler and stated it's more than the sport of basketball that brings him back year after year.

"I get a lot of nostalgia driving here," said Gossen. "I drive by Crystal Crescent to see the house I grew up in. I played a lot of games on that street."

He added he sees a lot of his buddies and classmates, who still live in the City and gets jealous of them, because he misses the community.

The moral of the story for Gossen is that it's not about the basketball, it's about the community.

See the full video interview below;