Dragons host scrimmage

Admission: School supplies

A summer season basketball scrimmage is slated to begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 11, in the Blackhawk gym.

Admission is any school supply, which will be donated to Bright Futures, Pea Ridge, to provide for students in need.

The Dragons will start their summer season with a round robin scrimmage with the Bentonville Blazers and Rogers teams. The day will begin with fourth-grade boys Blackhawks playing the Bentonville Blazers at 1 p.m.

The scrimmage is open to the public.

"We want to invite everyone to come out and support our local teams and help us to gather school supplies for our local kids in need," Kevin Hall, Dragon coach, said.

The Dragons scrimmage will provide practice time to prepare them for the more than 20 basketball games they will play this summer to keep the Blackhawk basketball team members in condition.

"We thought the folks in town who support the high school team would like to come watch and at the same time do a fundraising for school supplies for Bright Futures," Hall said, adding that it's important to provide an avenue for the young athletes to give back to their local community. "We are trying to make our high school Dragons team more about mentoring than just basketball."

Hall, with help from former Razorback Fred Gulley and former Blackhawk Austin Horton, will coach the Dragons this summer.

Both Hall and Gulley work with Walmart DC 6051. Walmart runs the Volunteerism Always Pays (VAP) program and, for every 25 hours the men work with the Dragons, donates $250 to the Dragons.

"I also have other managers who donate their time and this is how we fund this program for the high school Dragons basketball," Hall said. "This ensures all players from Pea Ridge have a chance to be a part of it with no cost to the players."

"Our goal is to guide young men in becoming effective team members and leaders in our community," Hall said. "We do this through one-on-one settings and group settings using basketball as the tool to accomplish (it)."

Sports on 06/01/2016