For youths looking to get out of the heat and into the gym, the Selma YMCA will have them covered on July 12-14. During that time the Y will hold its Bill Porter Jr. basketball camp for children in the third through eighth grades.

“It’s going to be a skill based, technically fundamental type of camp,” Porter Jr., who is a native of Selma and former coach at Selma High School and Dallas County, said. “We mainly want to do the drills that teach the basic skills of basketball, that’s not to say that we won’t have fun. After morning drills, we plan to team up and have some fun with 3-on-3 games and 5- on-5 as well. It’s all about getting the kids to have fun while learning.”

Registration for the event, which ends Friday, does come at a cost for the three-day camp. For members of the YMCA, the camp will be $65, but non-members will be asked to pay $75.

This isn’t the first time the YMCA has hosted a camp by Porter Jr.

Four years ago, Porter Jr. was coaching at Dallas County and held the camp at the old Brown YMCA along with players of his team. Now, he hopes to get the help of area coaches.

“Obviously coaching in Poplarville (Miss.) I can’t bring my team, but I am reaching out to some of the area coaches,” Porter Jr. said.

Selma YMCA executive director Bill Porter said the purpose of the camp is to teach the fundamentals, improve overall skill level all while having fun, learning, growing and improving under the camps guide.

“We want them to have fun, of course,” Porter said. “But we want them to learn as well.”

The draw of coaching once more for Porter Jr. stems from having played there as a youth.

“I grew up playing at the old YMCA,” Porter Jr. said.

“This is just a way for me to give back to the Y and to Selma and give kids a chance to learn some basketball.”