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Girls have fun with fitness photo by Steve Johnson Lexi Parsagian concentrates fiercely as she learns tae kwon do kicking techniques . Local troops take part in effort to combine sports with Scouting By VICKI GUARINO Girl Scouting got athletic Saturday as girls from around the county gathered at North Medford High School for the first sports field day. The idea is to show girls that they can be involved in athletics and team sports and still be Scouts. The field day gave 50 or so elementary school-age girls the chance to try soccer, softball, tennis and tae kwon do. Volunteer coaches came from local leagues and clubs. Scout organizers hope the one-day event will evolve into continuing practices, lessons and games. That would be fine with Girl Scout Amanda Carson, an 8-year-old home schooler from Sams Valley. She plays soccer, and was wielding a tennis racket for the first time. She says she'd like to spend more time on her serves and volleys. "I like it," she said as she waited for a practice volley to come her way. "You can just have fun playing with others, without keeping points." No scores were kept on the court, but the day was a competition of sorts -- a competition of Scouting with other activities that vie for girls' free time. Organizer Helen Bartholomy of Medford said Scouting too often loses girls to other sporting activities. By playing but staying in Scouting, she says, girls also get the benefits of other Scouting activities: the outdoor skills, the academic programs in science and math, and the social activities. Girl Scouts nationally are organizing these field days to introduce team sports into Scouting. Bartholomy hopes eventually to have an annual winter sports field day as well a regular summer sport event. The winter program might include volleyball, basketball, even a climbing wall to introduce rock climbing -- a sport Bartholomy herself pursues. The most popular activities could become regular Scouting events, she adds, noting that some of the girls already were talking about continuing tennis and tae kwon do lessons. Most of the girls at Saturday's event were already active in athletics but, like Amanda, found something new. "I was very surprised that some of the girls had never played any of these sports," said Scout leader Bonnie Rahm as she watched her daughter Kirsten, 10, and other members of her troop try the kicks and punches of tae kwon do. Medford fifth-grader Statia Smith runs track, so all the sports were new to her -- as is Scouting. "I'm brand new to Girl Scouts so I figured, what the heck, I'd come and see what this was like," she said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA