marcbloch

In our Pack and Troop we have increasingly run into Webelos burn out at the beginning of fifth grade. The other problem is that is also the time when we lose a lot of webelos to intensive club sports. 

We are going to try an earlier crossover this year to try to capture some of them before they hang it up. I really think that the responsibility is on parents, but overall our den and pack leaders have been doing the same things year after year. They are tired, kids are tired. 

I don’t know what the answer is. But the webelos program hasn’t been working for us over the last four years. 

It is really a learned response.

Encouraging?  Well, it's nice to see someone with a positive outlook on life.  

Thanks for this.  I guess part of me still thinks that the Cedar Ridge tents are pretty solid for scouts, particularly because of the tent base.

The Taurus Outfitter tents have bigger (stronger) zippers, and the floor is a heavier urethane coated nylon material that will stand up to the abuse of Scouts throwing their gear around better. They also have aluminum poles instead of fiberglass, and they have 2 doors, which makes it easier for middle of the night trips to the latrine. Each door also has its own vestibule, so there is plenty of covered space for gear outside of the tent. They were designed for companies that outfit groups for camping expeditions, so they would be used by many people over the course of a single camping season, and likely abused by some of the renters. I have a Chaos that I use when tenting alone, and a Taurus 5 Outfitter for family camping. Both have yet to allow a drop of water in them, even through torrential downpours and flooded Camporee fields.

Im curious about the Taurus 4 vs the Cedar Ridge Granite Falls 4.  Cedar Ridge is a little more budget priced, has a "PE tub floor," and is around the same weight as the Taurus 4, plus or minus one pound.  The Cedar Ridge is much less expensive, and is of high quality (I own one, but don't work for Alps Mountaineering!).  What makes the Taurus 4 a better option for scouts?  I have asked them about what exactly they mean by "outfitter" and have not received a clear answer.

I can see this happening very easily in my near future.  Our DE is far more concerned about numbers than anything else, and is constantly annoying myself and other Cubmasters and Scoutmasters to get our numbers up and constantly run recruitment campaigns.  We live in areas where the bushes have been beaten and there ARE NO MORE KIDS.  As much as we try to argue against it, we ARE in competition with sports, but the awful truth is that it is not parochial or school sports, it is club sports causing the most problems overall.  I don't recall kids at the age of 10 going to Florida for Spring baseball tournaments when I was a kid.  So no, Mr DE, we don't have more scouts.  Any maybe if you just provided a little support aside from asking how our enrollments and/or rechartering was going I might listen to you more.

In our Pack and Troop we barely get enough parents to cover all of our positions.  I pushed on issues and got our Pack and Troop up to around 40 scouts in each, but the numbers are dropping in the Pack now because the new Cubmaster is not pushing the program as much.  

When I get the feeling that I am getting burned out I find the patrol leaders and ask them when they want to go camping next, or if they want to sneak in an extra camping event.  On purely selfish grounds, getting back to the basics of camping helps to ground things for me.

Thanks to all of you for your quick replies.  This is all very encouraging.

I don't want to take this on a tangent, but I think it's a great question.  Those of us with "trained" patches get no where near enough training on how to deal or advise on things like this.  I really wish there was more well done training on things like this.  

 

Beyond this, I have some ideas, but I'll pass to see what others say.  

Thanks...I agree on your comment.  This is a really tough issue.

All,

My son is in a Webelos den made up of two very different kinds of boys.  One group is more of what I would call "normative," the other group is what I would call hyper-competitive.  They are drawn to sports, and are as you would expect good athletes.  But the real problem is that they turn EVERYTHING into a competition.  Who is the tallest.  Who is the fastest.  Who is the best kicker. Who is the best basketball shot.  You name it...they will make a competition out of it.  The problem is that "normative" boys typically want to have fun, and don't feel an urge to compete all the time.  So the two groups often break on this point.

I have watched this den as a CubMaster for the last few years, and it is very disheartening in a way.  They always want to break into groups to do things, they always want to pick teams to do things, and while they include all the boys, their attitude is very off putting.  These kids are not being kids...they are extremely aggressive and assertive, and it comes out in their interactions with den and pack leaders.  

Im not sure what to tell the den leader about this group.  The boys who are normative just want to do things for fun, and don't particularly want to compete all the time.  If they hike, they just want to hike, not see who gets to the top of the hill first.  

Any ideas out there on how to both keep the assertive boys interested in scouting while trying to impress upon them that there is more to life than competition?