By Sara QuamManagers at the Rock County Pool and Fitness Center said they hope the Fitness Challenge will bring in new members and also encourage current members to expand their experiences.The three-month program starts in February and costs $55 for new members and $10 for existing members to participate. The Fitness Challenge has participants logging their own minutes of time on certain exercises, with prizes and incentives along the way.Manager Robyn Wessels said, "We ended on a strong note in December, so we’re hoping that will continue into the New Year."Attendance from August through December of 2005 was much greater than attendance in 2004.Actual memberships weren’t on the rise in some categories, however.There were 419 family memberships in 2004 and 353 in 2005.There were 419 individual memberships in 2004 and 359 in 2005. There were big increases in the monthly family and monthly individual memberships, which are commonly used for people who exercise indoors in the winter or summer only, or for students home on college breaks.There were 30 family monthly memberships in 2004 and 67 in 2005. There were 76 monthly individual memberships in 2004 and 315 in 2005. Total memberships in 2005 were 1,094, compared with 944 in 2004.Age limitsManagement was asked to consider lowering the age of people allowed to use the facility, which is now 14.Other fitness centers or pools in the area allow children younger than 14 to use their facilities, but either the staff must supervise their activity or an adult is required to accompany the child.Manager Sam Honerman said, "If we could afford to have someone in the room all the time, it would make a difference."She said the spa has to have an age limit of 14, so it has been easier to enforce that age in the entire facility.Honerman said it may also be difficult to enforce the adult supervision rule, because some adults might not take that role seriously, and it will take staff time to make sure children are properly supervised. She said currently groups of 14- or 15-year-olds have caused problems and lowering the age might just exacerbate that.Commission member Ken Hoime said, "We have a lot of expensive equipment and I think we’re very safe at 14 and we should stay there." Commission member Karen Radisewitz said children older than 14 usually have some training for properly using equipment, and for their safety, the current age limit makes sense.