Two local middle school students have an opportunity to play basketball alongside their favorite college athletes and coaches this summer, thanks to Touchstone Energy Sports Camp Scholarships offered by Rutherford Electric Membership Corp.

Rutherford EMC will select one young man for a scholarship to attend the Roy Williams Carolina Basketball Camp June 18-22 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and one local young lady for the Wolfpack Women’s Basketball Camp June 12-15 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The scholarships cover all expenses at the overnight camps, which provide a glimpse into life on a college campus.

“This is an exceptional opportunity for young athletes to work directly with coaches and student-athletes at two of our state’s largest universities,” said Dirk Burleson, vice president of member and corporate services of Rutherford EMC. “The camps teach valuable lessons that will benefit students not only on the basketball court, but also in life. I encourage all interested students to apply.”

Applications are being accepted through March 31, and can be found online at Rutherford EMC’s website, www.remc.com. Contestants will be judged on academic records, extracurricular activities and an essay that must be submitted with the application. To be eligible to win, students must be in the sixth, seventh or eighth grade during the 2016-2017 and have permission from a parent or guardian.

At camp, students stay overnight in dorms on campus, learn fundamental skills that will help them excel on and off the court, and receive direct individual and group instruction from Division 1 coaches to enhance their basketball ability. Wes Moore, coach of the Wolfpack women’s basketball team, and Roy Williams, coach of the 2005 and 2009 national champion Carolina Tar Heel men’s basketball team, will direct the camps with the help of staff and current and former players.

Eligible students who are interested in the scholarship can contact Denise Gavin at 1-800-521-0920 or 828-245-1621 (extension 417) for more information.

More than 50 students will attend basketball camp this summer on all-expenses paid scholarships from North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives. Now in its 13th year, the scholarship program reflects Touchstone Energy Cooperatives’ core values of accountability, integrity, innovation and commitment to community.

Rutherford EMC, headquartered in Forest City, N.C., is a rural electric cooperative that maintains over 7,200 miles of power lines to provide electricity to over 68,300 member-consumers in a 10-county area of the southwestern Piedmont. Collectively, North Carolina’s electric cooperatives power the lives of more than 2.5 million North Carolinians in 93 of our state’s 100 counties.

–Submitted by Denise Gavin