Use in Large Troops

[mdutch 10]

Sorry for the long post, but please bear with my as I try to explain the situation.

First, a little background on my troop. We are about to celebrate our 85th aneversery as a unit next month. We have seen our ups and our downs in membership over the years, and right now we are definitly in an up. However, we are lacking in older scouts. 4 years ago, we failed to get any new scouts, so this year we have no 9th graders. We do, however, have about 12 8th graders, and 20 6th grades. We are expecting to get about another 20 new scouts this coming year. (we also have 3 10th graders, one of them me; and 3 11th graders who are inactive). So, right now we have about 40 scouts, and next year it will probably be around 60.

Next year, there is a good chance I will be SPL. My question is, does anyone have experience using the patrol method with large groups of scouts? This year we have 1 SPL 2 ASPL's and 6 TGs (2 per patrol, 3 patrols). I found that having 2 TG's per patrol did not work very well, as there was no one point of contact. However, if we only have one, we wont have them show up as often. Anyone have suggestions on how to best do this? Also, how many ASPLs do you recomend?

[DugNevius 10]

Having young leaders isnt a crisis. It depends on the leader not the age. Do you have strong Patrol Leaders?

 

Our SPL and his assistants are all 10th graders. It can be done. Just takes teamwork.

[NIscouter 10]

meamemg - I would say the only way to deal with a large group is using the patrol method. You need the structure that the patrol method provides (that is why we use it!). I am not sure if having 2 troop guides per patrol (new scout I assume) will provide you any advantage and may be a disadvantage if the TGs clash. Be caustious of having too many "chiefs" - a few good leaders are much better. I would also review the progran you offer for the older guys. Make sure it gives them a reason to come to the meeting other than acting as trainers for the younger guys. You have a great chance to impact your program in the long term. Aim high

[Eamonn 61]

I'm with NIscouter,

the real work in Scouting happens in the patrol. The more people that you pull out of the Patrol the weaker the patrols become.

If you are using the NSP, you might want or need a Guide there but two guides per Patrol is overkill.

We never had more than one ASPL, we never seen the need. At its peak we had 90 Scouts. When the Troop becomes that large one big problem is communication, the more people you have in "Middle Management" the more fuzzy and distorted the message can become.

Not to change the subject but very often when I sit on Eagle Rank BOR and talk to a Lad who lists ASPL as his POR it sends up a red flag. We have troops that have four and five ASPL's!! I have to wonder if they are just there on paper and what they really do?

Eamonn.