Summer Camp Venturing Sales Pitch?

[Kudu]

 

To qualify for some "Honor Troop" award at Camp Thunder, we had to listen to a Venturing sales pitch. The guy arrived ten minutes late and talked about all the fun things our Scouts could do after they turned 14.

 

It did not make much of an impression. Except for the promise of pistol shooting and sky diving, our Boy Scouts already do all the traditional Boy Scout stuff he offered.

 

However, when two of our older Scouts returned after hearing the Venturing pitches all summer long (while staffing the waterfront at Camp Woodruff), they made a presentation to the Troop telling them about how cool it would be to start a Venturing Crew.

 

Given our available adults with outdoor skills, our High Adventure will likely follow the older Scouts out of the Troop.

 

So far the Committee is excited about this boy-led initiative. The working wisdom is that "It will give the younger Scouts something to look forward to."

 

The Fun Begins at 14!

 

My question is: Was there a coordinated national push to pitch Venturing to Boy Scout Troops at BSA summer camps this year?

 

Or was this just an isolated coincidence?

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

[eagle90]

Just spent last week at camp. No mention of Venturing at all by anyone.

[Eagle92]

Kudu,

 

Back in the day, my troop's Leadership Corps turned into a Venture Crew once we ran out of the Leadership Corps patches. The Venture Crew was still used as a LC though.

 

When Venturing came out and some Venture Crew, now Venture Patrol, members found out, they wanted to start working on Outdoor Bronze and Ranger. Then they found out the details, i.e. Venture Crews are now called venture patrols, and you must be a Venturer in a Venturing Crew, that specializes in one fop the 5 areas to worked on Bronze, Ranger, etc.

 

So they formed a Crew, set bylaws which wer remarkably similar to the Leadership Corps and Venture Crew, now Patrol, policies and guidelines, etc.

 

For them it was another tool to keep them involved in Scouting, and helping out the younger Scouts.

[Basementdweller]

I heard the Crew at Summer camp pitch twice at two different summer camps....

 

 

I asked the one CD why was he pitching it to Boy Scouts and not Crews.....He thanked me for my question and moved on.......

 

The only thing a crew can do that my troop doesn't already do is Hunt and shoot handguns......All my boy know that if they want to shoot handguns is to ask me and I will take them outside of scouting.....

[dfolson]

FYI- skydiving is listed in the GSS as an unauthorized activity... The age for Venturing is 13 and completed the 8th grade, or 14.

[Lisabob]

Seems like a stupid requirement for any kind of award.

 

Still, Venturing has a place. My son's troop started a Crew last year. The Crew has about 25 members. I'd say about 35% are not boy scouts. Nearly all the rest are 17-18-19-20 and either have aged out of boy scouts or will, within the next 6 months. Maybe two boys are 15 or 16. The girls tend to be a little younger (15-17) and most, but not all, have brothers in the troop and parents who are/have been very involved with the troop.

 

What I think motivated starting this Crew was that the troop recognized that almost all of their "leadership patrol" was going to age out within a year. Those guys aren't all ready to perform as ASMs and most of them would rather stay on the youth side of program, than suddenly be "adults" with the "old goats". So the choice is to either lose these kids entirely, or give them an older youth program that they enjoy.

 

Having said that, I have a hard time imagining 13 year olds being involved in the same program that is exciting to 20 year olds. I think it was a mistake by the BSA to lower the age limit. In fact, it would have been better to raise it to 15. IMO.

 

 

 

 

[Oak Tree]

Nothing like that at our camp.

 

We already have a Venturing crew, so it would be really odd to have our guys sit through the pitch.

[qwazse]

Venturing committees at different councils constantly think of different ways to promote their program. Not a fan of the time-share sales pitch approach. We

 

Anyway the distinctive activities are go-carts and pistols, but that's not what really sells the program to boys. It's the "who" as much as the "what". The chance to hit a tougher hike at Philmont one last time was a big draw for some boys aging out of the troop. Fellowship with girl friends was a big draw for some. The ability to create an activity to attract boys who aren't into troop life was a big deal.

 

It's interesting how only a few younger boys are looking forward to joining the crew.

[advancement lady]

I have three scouts in a Venture crew (two sons ~ 14, 16 and one daughter ~ 18). Our crew is small 8 members and we just lost three to an away college.

 

Anyway, my point is this ...... our crew has got to recruit to survive, so we are planning to do recruitment in fall. Is it possible that what you experienced was a recruitment from a particular crew?

 

My 14 year old did not experience any recruitment at summer camp this year.