Re: accepting more boys

Debby wrote:
Subject: Limiting Troop Size

Hello All,

My son is a Star Scout and my husband is an Eagle Scout, former and
future Cubmaster, a Unit Commissioner and ASM in a troop that was
organized and chartered just last summer. The troop has grown rapidly
and the committee is proposing capping the size of the membership. My
husband is uncomfortable with the idea of denying the opportunity of
scouting to any youth.....

The rationale which is being used for these proposed changes is that the
troop size could potentially reach as high as 50 scouts over the next 2
to 3 months and key committee members feel that if the troop grows any
larger with the current level of active adult leadership, the quality of
the program provided would be significantly degraded.
---------------------------------------

Debby:

I am from the more the merrier camp. I think it is a huge mistake to
limit membership for several reasons.

1. A sudden loss of a family or two (moves, boy drops, divorce, etc)
can make a HUGE difference in the quality of the troop. Especially if
it involves one of the "will always be there" leaders.

2. With each new boy you bring in there IS more potential leadership
which strengthens the troop and gives it a broader base.

One should ALWAYS recruit for leadership at the same time as recruiting
for boys. If a leader is recruited to work with the new boys and
brought along by the existing leaders then you always have new blood.

That said, it is POSSIBLE to have a troop that is too big, if your
leadership is not set up to handle it. Still, I would still opt for
more boys/new leaders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clare Cheney Zimmermann ~ mailto:tczim@pacbell.net ~ San Diego
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/8784
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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