Zamir White, a triple-state champion at the Hershey's Track and Field Games of North Carolina, will represent Scotland County and his home state at the Hershey's North American championships next month.

White will compete in the North American final on Aug. 1. To get there, he, along with his mother Shanee White, grandmother Lucille White and uncle Anthony Pegues, will board a plane at the Raleigh/Durham Airport on Thursday, July 30 and fly out to Hershey, Penn.

"I've never flown on a plane before, but I want to and I'm excited," said Zamir.

Zamir and his family hope when they return to N.C. on Aug. 2, he will be North America's softball throw champion. If he wins, White would make it two straight years that a Scotland County native has won the North American softball-throw title in the 10-year-old division; last year, local athlete Cross Holfert brought home the championship.

Earlier this month, White ran the 50-meter dash in 7.33 seconds, the 100-meter dash in 14.11 seconds and had a toss of over 130 feet in the softball throw, good enough to win the state championship in each event. White is a 9-year-old competing in the 10-year-old division, although he does turn 10 next month.

Zamir is more physically developed than most 9-year-olds, and there's no doubt his size and strength help him in an event such as the softball throw. Zamir's mother, Shanee, credits his uncle, Anthony Rogers, for much of her son's athletic success.

"His uncle trains him," she said. "He does track, football and baseball with him."

"He made me do track," said Zamir, who played Parks and Recreation tackle football with the Giants last fall, and who was a baseball All-Star with Parks and Recreation this spring.

Zamir's favorite sport is football, and that comes into play when he is competing in the softball throw.

"I just think of it as a football," he said, "because I love playing football so much. I just throw the ball as hard as I can."