By Alison McFerrin

The Selma Times-Journal

Local children will be able to shoot hoops with college basketball stars when players from the University of Alabama come to Selma.

Sarrell Dental Center, which will come to Selma July 11, will sponsor a basketball camp July 9.

“We sponsor it so that it’s free to all the children of the community,” chief marketing officer Brandi Parris said.

“Being a nonprofit and working with the type children that we work with … we try to give back to communities in as many ways as we can.”

The camp is open for boys and girls ages 8 through 18. It will be held at the YMCA on July 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“We’re always excited to do anything free that will help the kids,” YMCA fitness program director Kasey Burton said.

Those who attend the camp will learn basic basketball skills like dribbling, passing, shooting, conditioning, rebounding and defense. Parris said the camp is mainly focused on having fun, though she said she hopes the children will learn something, as well.

“It’s great if they learn something from it,” Parris said.

“We will talk about character and those sorts of things.”

Burton said she thinks they will have a great turnout due to all the publicity.

“I am actually expecting 50 kids,” Burton said, adding she expects more older children than younger.

The camp will be run by about six University of Alabama basketball players along with Dave Dagostino from Sarrell Dental. Each child will get a free T-shirt.

To register for the camp, you can call Parris at (205) 764-3255 or email her at basketballcamps@sarrelldental.org; download the form at www.sarrelldental.org; or register at the YMCA the day of the camp.