Operation UNITE Shoot Hoops Not Drugs Camp held at LCHS

Winners of two portable basketball goals given out at the end of Operation UNITE’s regional Shoot Hoops Not Drugs basketball camp with Jarrod Polson on Tuesday, June 13, were 6-year-old Miah Church (left) and 13-year-old Tristan Caudill (center), both of Lawrence County. Also pictured are, from left, UNITE AmeriCorps Summer Intern Taylor Payne, Jarrod Polson, UNITE AmeriCorps Summer Intern Jacob Massey and Tristan’s brother Anthony.

STAFF REPORT

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LOUISA — Operation Unite held one of its six 2023 Shoot Hoops Not Drugs basketball camps with Jarrod Polson at Lawrence County High School on Tuesday, June 13.

A total of 137 children from Boyd, Johnson, Lawrence, Martin and Pike Counties along with two West Virginia counties, Mingo and Wayne, attended the Shoot Hoops Not Drugs Camp held at LCHS.

In all, 33 parents/guardians attended an educational program that was conducted as part of the camp.

A former University of Kentucky point guard and four-time All-SEC Academic Team member who was a part of the 2011-12 National Championship squad, Polson led the camp.

Participants received a free event T-shirt, regulation-sized signature, basketball and were entered into a drawing for two portable basketball goals given away at the conclusion of each camp. Also, food and water were provided during the camp.

Winners of the two portable basketball goals included Miah Church, 6-years-dold and Tristan Caudill, 13-years-old, both from Lawrence County.

Presented by the Kentucky National Guard, Shoot Hoops Not Drugs camps are fun, interactive, and provide a safe, drug-free summer activity. Youth interact with positive role models while learning fundamental basketball skills. Polson relates these fundamentals to situations participants face later in life – maintaining a healthy lifestyle, listening, teamwork, effort, and living with the consequences for making poor choices.

Polson, a native of Wilmore, went from being a walk-on player to a scholarship athlete before his freshman year at UK even began. Over his four years at UK, Polson played in 94 games and scored 140 points while shooting 31.3 percent from three-point range.

Since 2006, UNITE has conducted nearly 100 Shoot Hoops Not Drugs basketball camps, drawing 11,836 youth participants representing 63 Kentucky counties, 20 other states and two other countries. More than 2,600 parents/caregivers and other adults have attended the educational awareness sessions.

Members from Addiction Recovery Care facilities, Blackberry, Inez outpatient, Lackey, Louisa Outpatient, May Hill, Second Chance Auto, Stone Lodge, Welding Program and White Oak Hill, assisted with the program.

Special visitors included ARC Chief Administration Officer, Matt Brown, Lawrence County Clerk, Chris Jobe, Lawrence County Sheriff, Chuck Jackson, and Pathways, Inc. Chief Business Development Officer Ronne Nunley.

The sponsors for the Shoot Hoops Not Drugs camps follow.

Gold Sponsors: Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Appalachian Wireless, Citizens Bank & Trust Company of Jackson, Don Franklin Family of Dealerships, Kentucky River Regional Prevention Center, Outdoor Venture Corporation, People’s Rural Telephone Company.

Silver Sponsors: 123 Café (Paintsville), Addiction Recovery Care (Louisa), AmeriCorps-Kentucky, Arbys/KFC (Whitley City), Bimbo Bakery (London), Blue Ridge Homes (Whitley City), Champions for a Drug-Free McCreary County UNITE Coalition, Citizens Bank of Kentucky (Paintsville), Clearing the Air Coalition (Whitley City), Community Trust Bank (Pikeville), Cumberland Gap Mountain Spring Water (Middlesboro), Dunahoo Furniture (Jackson), Fire & Ice Heating and Cooling Refrigeration (Nippa), Harlan County High School FRYSC, Johnson County Farm Bureau, Johnson County Sheriff Doug Saylor, Kentucky River Medical Center (Jackson), Laurel Grocery (London), McCreary County ASAP, McCreary County Sheriff Randy Waters, Redemption Road Recovery Center (Barbourville), State Farm-Paul Pelphrey Insurance (Paintsville), Teeters & May, PLLC (Paintsville), United Cumberland Bank (Whitley City), Walmart Corporation.

Bronze Sponsors: Castle’s Roofing & Gutters (Paintsville), Joe’s Auto Sales (Marshes Siding), Kroger (Whitley City), Larry’s Mini Mart (Whitley City), McCreary County Attorney Austin Price, McCreary County Judge-Executive Jimmie Greene, McDonald’s (Whitley City), Peking Dragon Chinese Restaurant (Paintsville), Porkey’s Pizza (Paintsville), Smokin’ Butts BBQ, LLC (Paintsville), State Farm-Randy Kidd Insurance (Whitley City), Tres Hermanos Nuñez Restaurant (Paintsville).