WINNING SPIRIT; ATHLETICS UNITE TEENS IN RESEDA.Byline: Phillip W. Browne Daily News Staff Writer The idea was simple: Create an athletic-social event for Valley youths so they can burn energy, meet other teens and celebrate their Korean heritage. On Saturday, parents and sponsors said that idea became a successful reality. More than 1,000 youths from several area schools turned out for the second annual San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Youth Olympics, nearly doubling last year's attendance. ``This is a great thing. They need to keep doing this every year,'' said 16-year-old Eugene Kang of El Camino Real High School El Camino Real High School (also known locally as "ECR" and by some more recently as "ELCO") is a public secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. . Kang and his teammates were celebrating their 5-4 touch football victory over Granada Hills High School Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. The school colors are green, black, and white. . ``They were tough. They're a great team,'' Kang added. ``It's competitive out here, but you get to meet people from all over the Valley, and that's good.'' This year's Olympics kicked off at 7:30 a.m. at Cleveland High School and included football, volleyball, basketball and track and field. Cooks served authentic Korean dishes, and performers demonstrated tae kwon do tae kwon do Korean martial art resembling karate. It is characterized by the use of high standing and jump kicks as well as punches and is practiced for sport, self-defense, and spiritual development. In sparring, blows are stopped just short of contact. and samoolnori - a traditional Korean fan dance The Korean fan dance is a traditional form of Korean dance, usually performed by groups of female dancers. They use fans and display a show of dance. In the dance being performed, there are flowers, butterflies, waves that as performed. . The event is sponsored by the Valley Korean-American Parents Association, but youths from all ethnic backgrounds are welcome, event chairwoman Gina Lim said. ``About 80 percent of the kids here today are Korean, but we want everyone to come,'' Lim said. ``The whole idea of this event was to get kids into some activity and let them meet and play with each other.'' While middle and high school students competed in most of the events, there were special events for grade school kids. Andrew Kim of Granada Hills cheered on his son who was competing in a tug of war tug of war n. pl. tugs of war 1. Games A contest of strength in which two teams tug on opposite ends of a rope, each trying to pull the other across a dividing line. 2. . ``I heard about this and brought the kids to enjoy the day,'' Kim said. ``It's better for them than staying at home.'' Christine Lee and Judy Kim, both 17-year-old Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. students, said they spend most of the day rooting for their classmates Classmates can refer to either:
``We came here for school spirit,'' Lee said. ``It's good for us too because I had no idea there were so many Koreans in the Valley.'' ``The parents really made this happen,'' Judy Kim added. ``It helps us be culturally aware and have a good time.'' CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1--3) At left, Remy Ozer, 4, of Woodland Hills demonstrates her tae kwon do prowess Saturday at Cleveland High School in Reseda during the San Fernando Valley Youth Olympics. Above, 12-year-old Joseph Jung snaps a board in a tae kwon do exercise. Below, Northridge resident Tammy Kim, 9, performs a traditional Korean fan dance during the event. Evan Yee/Daily News |
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