Operation UNITE’s 13th annual regional Shoot Hoops Not Drugs basketball camps, led by former University of Kentucky player Jarrod Polson, will be held from June 18-28 in several eastern Kentucky locations.

Five free, regional Operation UNITE Shoot Hoops Not Drugs basketball skills camps for youth throughout southern and eastern Kentucky will be conducted.

Polson, who was part of the 2011-12 national championship squad, will conduct these three-hour camps. All school-age youth are invited to participate in the camps, to be held at the following dates and locations:

Monday, June 18 – Lincoln County High School

Tuesday, June 19 – Leslie County High School

Thursday, June 21 – East Carter High School

Tuesday, June 26 – Bell County High School

Thursday, June 28 – Wolfe County Middle School

Each camp begins at 4 p.m. and concludes about 7 p.m. Participants are asked to arrive 30 minutes early for registration. (There is no advance registration.)

For safety and comfort while participating, youth are asked not to wear open-toe shoes or sandals.

All participants will receive a free event T-shirt, regulation-sized signature basketball, food and water, and be entered into a drawing for two portable basketball goals given away at the conclusion of each camp (you must be present to win).

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

In addition, parents and guardians will have an opportunity to attend a brief UNITE-sponsored education program on marijuana and current drug trends. Information on the signs, symptoms and dangers posed by prescription drugs will also be provided.

Polson, a native of Wilmore with family from Harlan County, went from a walk-on to a scholarship athlete before his freshman year at UK even began. Over his four years at UK, Polson played in 94 games scoring a total of 140 points with a .424 field goal percentage (.313 3-point percentage).

Since 2006, UNITE has conducted 73 regional basketball camps with 9,516 youth participants representing 59 Kentucky counties, 20 other states and two other countries. More than 2,000 parents/caregivers have attended the educational programs.