Hometown Heroes basketball camp to be held Aug. 3-4

LUMBERTON — Three former Robeson County high school basketball stars will hold a youth basketball camp next month, hoping to give back to the community they grew up in.

The Hometown Heroes Camp will be held Aug. 3-4 at Bill Sapp Recreation Center in Lumberton.

The camp is run by Josh Bell, who played at Purnell Swett, Keagan Brayboy from Red Springs and Corry Addison from Fairmont. All three also played college basketball at the junior-college level, with Bell playing at Central Carolina Community College and Brayboy and Addison each playing at Sandhills.

The trio organized the camp for the first time last year, which was held at Purnell Swett; it returns this year in Lumberton.

“The (name) Hometown Heroes, we brought that up as bascially giving back to the community and being that guy that can show the kids back home that there’s more than just — you can make it out if you want to, you’ve just got to achieve your dreams,” Bell said.

Anthony Govan, a program specialist with Robeson County Parks & Recreation, has also partnered with the organizers.

About 80 kids attended last year’s camp, and organizers are expecting about the same attendance this year.

“We all talked about how Robeson County never really has anybody do big camps back home, and we all wanted to give back,” Bell said. “We did some great giveaways. We gave away some basketball goals, we raised money to have most kids come in for free. We gave them food, shirts.”

Saturday’s camp session will be separated by age group: third- to fifth-graders from 10 a.m. to noon, sixth- to eighth-graders from noon to 2 p.m. and ninth- through 12th-graders from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Campers are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes before their session begins.

Sunday’s session runs from noon to 5 p.m. for every camper.

Registration is $30; campers need to register by early next week so that organizers know how many t-shirts to order, Bell said.

To register or learn more information, contact Bell at 910-674-5797 or Brayboy at 910-318-7732.