Jameson76

I would agree. I coached a lot of travel youth soccer back in the day, the boys teams. I would referee (center) and sometimes I had guys from my team as linesman. We officiated girls games on occasion and those were no holds barred matches. Yes they were slighter and maybe not as flat out fast as their contemporary boys, (high school age) but they hit as hard, fought as hard, and definitely held a grudge from earlier plays in the match. My guys doing line commented that the girls were way more vicious than he might have imagined. Competitive and driven also, do not sell the fairer se

"Locked out of the program".....interesting starting point for a discussion

This falls into the "cannot make a positive" assumption or offer proof of issues. Rather than acknowledge that it does possibly appear there could be challenges, there possibly could be some leaders short cutting the process and maybe denying the Scout the full program, the response from some is prove it. Very much like the situation where you walk into your house and see a picture that was hanging on the wall laying on the floor broken and ball laying near it. You may not be able to prove your child did it, but certainly it looks that way. Most of the concern, at least on my par

Anchoring is one of the Pioneering MB requirements, good discussion point is always stakes, iron, trees, etc and what to tie the tower or structure to. Hardest part is getting good spars, keeping them dry, and moving them to make a good tower. We were going to build a tower maybe 15', but all the tree that were down were rotten to some degree. Managed to find four good ones maybe 10' in length, that were not too heavy. By the time we built it, was a beast to stand up. Waaay back in the day on camp staff we built a tower with a 25' platform. Built over a 5 week span. Cut down trees o

Careful...implied critiques of girls joining Scouts BSA may be frowned upon

Actually, their 6% metric is based on at this point in time, +/- 850,000 Boy Scouts Scouts BSA registered for a specific year, 50,000 Eagles in that year, so roughly 6%. Sort of a false measurement based on what they say and what they report. Each year we do not get a new 850,000 Scouts, more like 200,000 +/-. Many are registered for 3 - 5 years (some longer). I would argue the number of Scouts who join the Scouts BSA program that get Eagle is closer to 25%. The real measurement would be how many unique Scouts (yep, I know, they are all unique) and bounce that against Eagle Scouts, th

We got a looks last year at the district banquet, we had about 30% of the Eagle Scouts in the district. While reviewing metrics at the District Banquet some comments on needing to audit , better check the numbers etc etc. Funny part was when you looked at number of Boy Scouts in the district, out troop accounted for maybe 25% of that number (small district), so the math sort of dictated the outcome. Also we have the most hours for community service, no comments about that.

Interesting question, and one that has been discussed for lo these many years. Current troop has 80+ Scouts and over the last 11 years we have averaged about 8 Eagles each year. Looking at a percentage earning Eagle, for Scouts that join the troop about 50% earn Eagle. For the Scouts that joined in one year (21) 13 attained Eagle or 62%. They earned Eagle over a 4 year span. Some at about 15 and some at the literal cusp of 18 The troop has never done an "advancement" outing. All the outings are determined by the Scouts and the main drive is to have fun. We have 11 outdoor mon

Saw a post on another social media platform. A young lady was reporting that she has completed 1st class requirements as of May 4th 2019. I guess congratulations, but I had some observations: That means in 92 days (2/1/19 - 5/4/19) she has: Completed all the requirements for Scout / Tenderfoot / Second Class / First Class That is 118 separate items Including: 30 days of record keeping for Tenderfoot physical fitness 4 weeks (28 days) of record keeping for Second Class fitness after Tenderfoot fitness requirement 6C 4 weeks (28 days) of record keeping

It is a an ongoing process. The training is ongoing for Scouts and leaders. Some can handle the processes better, some need less guidance, some need more. We try to keep it from drifting too far into "Lord of Flies" territory. One conversation we had a few months ago with our SPL was, having a class session (for example) on hammocking tips is a great idea, but what are the instructors going to cover? That needs to be part of the meeting plan. We touched on that he should not be looking for an in-depth lesson plan, they have about 10 minutes or so (they rotate) so what 3 things should

The Scouts meet and determine topics and plans, the leaders sit to the side, most of the time we quietly discuss a variety of topics not related to Scouting For meetings our involvement is typically: Can we do X at the meeting (yes or no) The leaders ask questions such as what are the items you want cover in class sessions We confirm how many meetings they are planning for at this time We review their plan For the annual planning our involvement is questions from the the scouts, these are typically: About a possible outing and Yep we can do that,

Not the specific topic, but we have had some challenges with cell phones. Yes it can be a good tool, but then there is a litany of tools that could be useful at camp and outings that we do not bring (chainsaws, generators, work lights to name a few) Our primary driver was that it did impact the group interactions on outings. When there are no phones, the scouts congregate more and socialize more. Better attended card games and cornhole tournaments

Other than Scouts have done a good bit of sports coaching. One of the parents was a lawyer, so I asked him what my liability was if a player got injured. His umbrella response was that they (as parents) had to assume some risk as they allowed their child to play a sport. Yes you could have an action against you, but it likely would not be a winnable one if you as the coach were doing normally accepted actions or it was the course of the game and no visible risks were present. Drills, exercises, and other activities that would be associated with the sport and as the coach was taking reasona

Adults not ready to make the transition from parent to leader

I wonder if there is more to the story? Trail looks to be only less than 2 miles from 1 parking area and less than 3 miles from another. Not discounting dehydration that can come on quickly, Here is a map of the park https://d2umhuunwbec1r.cloudfront.net/gallery/0004/0010/27F8D231CC7F4A9CB199737FE780E8D6/PIPE_ParkMap_Spring_2019_FINAL_01.pdf

That is so true....I could easily see a return to the past where adults only approved project proposals with multi-page descriptions and detailed plans and detailed cost and .... Had a sad discussion with one Scout from another troop on his project. The troop approver ONLY wanted CAD type drawings, no hand ones, no sketches from excel, etc. The Scout was building some shelves or cabinets. He wanted nailing diagrams, then cut sheets, etc. Poor guy had submitted his project multiple times. Most issues I see and hear about the workbook, and I work with 12 - 15 Scouts per year from o

The level of complaining if there are not good hammocking trees is epic when we camp. Literally there is one area we have not returned to due to lack of hammock trees. On most outings (and we camp 35 - 40 Scouts) it runs about 80% hammock Hard part is judging the age of the trees to make sure they are compliant with various age issues, no more than 2 years apart and whatnot. Once you cut them down and count rings, tough to use for hammocks

Hammocks. That's the only solution...hammocks

Annually for summer we do a summer activity shirt. Same chest design, but the back has summer camps and HA that the troop is doing Some colors over the last few years Burgundy Grey Black Texas Orange Navy Scarlett Forest Green Red Royal Blue After the scouts have been in a few years nice to see the different colors at activities. The leaders seem to have stacks of different colors. As for the gentle blending in aesthetic mentioned, that may work if you and a friend or two are out in the wilderness. You put 40 Scouts out on an o

Got a scout wearing a patch from one of the military branches on his uniform, apparently granddad was in the service, WW2, and he is very proud of that, his granddad, and his service. Wears it under the US flag... We took the same path, Scout is very active and loves Scouting, whatever (within reason) brings them to the table regularly

Folks arguing and debating the guides to uniform and what should and should not be worn (let's get a red epaulette thread fired up) is truly the definition of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Basically as @Double Eagle advised, we've got bigger fish to fry Wear the pin. Enjoy

So...there are many entities within the BSA. National (National and Regions) and then the Councils. The suits are against BSA National (I believe), though likely the local councils were named in the suits. Or, if the lawyers get enough clients "will" be named in the suits. With business type bankruptcy, and assuming Chapter 11 for reorganization and not Chapter 7 liquidation. With Chapter 11 one of the first steps is to secure DIP (Debtor in Possession) financing so that National BSA can continue operations. To be sure, not clear how Chapter 11 would effect the assets of the Boy Scou

Anderson plans to file multiple lawsuits against the Boy Scouts on behalf of the victims and demands the organization hand over their files, including names of those accused of abuse I thought the files were already out in a searchable database as a result of several previous lawsuit. Wow - these guys are definitely looking for more clients - here is one from New York attorney. They even list names from the files. They seem to be casting a wide net for anyone else. https://newyorksexabuseattorneys.com/boy-scout-files/?gclid=CjwKCAjw7_rlBRBaEiwAc23rhthUii8jw1NnVhlr9KfGHsoB

This definitely look like a money play. In no way discounting what happened to the youth and in no way excusing the way the BSA (National / Council / Local CO) handled these cases. Challenge is there is liability in the way this was handled. Problem is many of these go back (even in their admission) almost 80 years. The lawyers typically state they want policies to change etc, which BSA has clearly done. This is grandstanding, nothing else. If they have incidents in the last 10 years, after the more stringent YPT was rolled out, then you have a case that warrants attention. The only