An upcoming event will use basketball to bring a message to local young people about positive choices.

The Western Tidewater Community Services Board’s three-point shootout and life skills workshop will be held Aug. 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wilroy Baptist Church, 306 Williams Road. In between the three-point shootout competitions, children ages 8-17 will participate in workshops on gang prevention, health education and making positive choices.

“We want to help the kids see the decisions you make will follow you the rest of your life,” said Teko Wynder, prevention specialist at the community services board. “If you go out and you do something that you’re not supposed to do, you’re going to be in the back of the group. No one wants to constantly be in the back of the group.”

Special guests at the event will include Ed Young, basketball coach at Nansemond River High School, and Ben Moore, coach at Warwick High School in Newport News. Community services board staffers will present the workshops.

“It’s just a day of fun, and hopefully a day where someone could listen to something and hopefully make an indent in their life and hopefully change them around,” Wynder said, adding that parents are welcome to come and get some tips on helping their children stay on the right path.

“Hopefully, the kids will choose to make positive choices,” Wynder said. “The parents can come out, and they can pick up some pointers, as well, as far as helping the kids have positive choices.”

Lunch at the event will be provided by Chick-fil-A. The entire event is free to participants, but children must have a parental permission form completed. Forms can be picked up at the church.

Children who participate in the three-point shootout will be competing only against their age peers. Trophies will be awarded to the winners. The first 200 participants will get a free T-shirt.

Wynder said he hopes the workshops will help make a difference in the children’s lives.

“We are tired of picking up the newspapers and turning on the news and hearing that someone has been shot or killed,” he said. “If you can get involved in some positive programs, you will do everything you can to be a positive person.”

To register for the event, or for more information, call 255-7107 to speak to Wynder, or call 539-5658 for Andy Powers, youth pastor at Wilroy Baptist Church.