J.R. Tidwell/FCT Recent Russellville High School graduate Ayanna McCullough instructs as campers work on a shooting drill in the RMS gym.

RUSSELLVILLE — Russellville Parks and Recreation teamed up with Russellville High School to put on a basketball camp for local youngsters earlier this week at the RMS gym.

This marked the third year of the camp, which is run by Chad Sears of Russellville Park and Rec and Russellville head boy’s basketball coach Michael Smith.

“A couple of years ago Coach Smith and I decided to form a basketball camp,” Sears said. “It gives the youth a chance to come out and do something positive instead of sitting at home playing video games all day.”

Around 65-70 kids attended the camp this year, which focused on conditioning, shooting and other fundamentals of the game.

“We did this when I first got here,” Smith said. “Chad has been big with getting the city involved. They do the work, I just come in and instruct the kids.”

While the program aims at keeping kids active during the summer months, the camp has the added benefit of helping to develop the next group of players that will come through Russellville in a few years time.

“This is the first step before they play in middle school and high school,” Smith said. “It helps them get fundamentally ready for the game, and it helps us to watch out for future players.”

On hand to help out with the camp were current and former Russellville basketball players such as Jackson Smith, Ayanna McCullough, Adonis Robinson and Bud Coleman.

Helping with the camp gives a unique perspective of the coaching process to the current varsity players, who are used to being on the other side of the instruction.

“Without our current and former players it wouldn’t be possible to run this camp,” Smith said.

“I tell them ‘now you see what I feel like.’

I think that this is a way for our players to give back to the community and to get to see what coaching is like.”