FishHawk Girl Scouts Raise Funds to Create Fitness Track

Two FishHawk Ranch Girl Scouts are putting their muscle behind a project that will help residents in their community stay fit.

Madison Jung and Madison Lynn, both 12, students and members of Girl Scout Troop 279, have designed fitness stations along the track around the FishHawk Sports Complex on FishHawk Boulevard and are now raising funds to build the stations.

They're doing the FitTrack 2012 project to earn their Silver Award in Girl Scouting, the highest honor a Girl Scout cadette can receive.

They previously earned their Bronze Award by installing a flower garden at Steppin' Stone Farms, a residential home for at-risk teenage girls in Lithia, as part of a troop project.

However, the girls agreed this is the biggest challenge they've taken on.

"For the Silver Award, you have to have a project that is sustainable and fills a need in the community," explained Lynn. "We both play softball at the park and would see so many runners using the track. We thought putting in fitness stations would be a great way for them to work out."

"We've seen these stations at other parks and thought this would be great for local walkers and runners as well as coaches to help condition student athletes," said Jung.

The sports complex has a 1.3-mile paved track.

"We tried to space out the fitness stations evenly and put them in places that were level, had shade and weren't too close to the ballfields," said Jung.

The first station will be near the concession stand and includes a bar stretch, a leg stretch and an Achilles' stretch.

The second station will have a trunk stretch, the third a knee lift, the fourth a chin-up station, the fifth a step-up station, the sixth a bench curl and the seventh station will be a shuffle jump.The eighth station will feature seated dips, the ninth a balance beam, and the last station will be for push ups.

"We laid out the stations so it alternated upper and lower body exercises," said Jung.

The girls were able to find a company, Fitness Trails USA, that could build the stations using recycled lumber and plastic.

"We got bids from different vendors and settled on one that could build us stations with zero maintenance," Lynn said.

In addition to creating the exercise stations, Fitness Trails USA will provide the signage for each station with instructions on using the equipment. The girls hope to finance the fitness stations by getting sponsors for each station.

"The signs will be very big and graphic with the sponsor's logo on them," Lynn said. "This is permanent signage that will never come down."

The cost of the welcome station near the concession stand is $3,500, and the other stations cost $1,500 each.

To fund the project, the girls have been visiting area civic organizations and businesses. They used their $100 marketing budget to create a professional drawing of the track, marking the fitness stations. In addition, they've spent their money on postage to send out requests for sponsorships.

So far, Abdoney Orthodontics has agreed to sponsor the welcome deck, and they received a grant from ConAgra Foods for a $1,500 to sponsor one of the other stations.

In addition, the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department paid for mulch and landscaping around the stations and for the installation of the stations at a cost of $10,000.

Nilo Menendez, division manager for the parks department, also agreed to be the project adviser.

"He's very excited by the project," Lynn said. "Once we got that commitment from the county, it was easier to move forward."

The FishHawk Youth Sports Association, which operates the sports complex, has agreed to take on the maintenance of the stations.

Madison Lynn's mother, Annette, is leader of the troop, which is comprised of six seventh- and eighth-graders.

"They're learning a lot in the process of doing this," said Annette Lynn, "like public speaking and how to stay in budget. I completely back these girls. I think it's a great project, and the community will get a lot of use out of it."

"It's taken hours of paperwork and research to do this," said Madison Lynn. "You have to be really dedicated."

The girls already have more than 30 hours into the project. They are required to spend 50 hours on a project to receive the Silver Award.

"It's a lot of hard work," Jung said.

The girls would like to have all of their sponsors committed by Dec. 1 so they order the equipment by Dec. 15 and install the stations the weekend of Feb. 9-11.

The equipment is easy to install, said the girls, but will still require about 50 volunteers to dig, mix concrete, place the equipment and timber borders and spread the mulch.

"We'd like to have a grand opening on opening day of the softball and baseball season," Lynn said.

Any business or organization wishing to sponsor one of the stations, can contact the girls at fitnesstrack279@aol.com or by calling 813-684-5355.