Leaderboard

So I attended my first event today with the new troop. The SM is "trained," but admitted he doesn't consider himself "trained," and is glad I am joining the troop. We started talking, and from the discussion, I realized a lot of info was left out of the online training. We are trying to recruit new Scouters, and I have a feeling I will be doing some informal training with them on camp outs.

I was invited to teach a MB at an MBU. Told them point blank it would be a partial. Sent out email telling Scouts in the class what things they could do before the MBU to get the MB. I got a lot of complaints, and was never asked back. Irony was it was Indian Lore MB, and i had a full blood Lakota stationed at the air base "auditing" my class. I got a lot of praise from her for what we went over. Too bad she wasn't in the session with the smart aleck who asked "which is more violent, Rugby or Lacrosse" My response was "While rugby is a thug sport played by gentlemen, and rugby's unofficial motto is 'Give Blood, Play Rugby,' no one ever was enslaved or executed for losing a game of rugby whereas in some versions of lacrosse losers were enslaved or ritually sacrificed. So Lacrosse is the more violent of the two." Shut him down the rest of the class.

While I agree in principle, at least in my area the council and district mB events are not staffed by qualified counselors. For example, the district person in charge of an event a few years ago asked me if I would counsel the Camping merit badge at an event. She pushed for (in her words) scouts with little experience to get the badge in a 2-hour session. A group of 20+ mind you. After I explained the requirements, and the impossibility to work with scouts and test them individually in that short time frame, not to mention the camping nights requirement. I said I was happy to do an "intro to camping" seminar with demonstrations and hands-on activities and leave the scouts with my contact info. Her reply was, "if you do the seminar can't you just sign off their blue cards?" Grrr. I said no, scouts need to personally demonstrate each requirement as written. In short, they found someone else. The system is broken.

I resembled that remark.

Based on what I am reading the general consensus seems to have shifted from the issue not being cost but the youth/families interest and a limitation on time. I want to point out that I and others have mentioned the limited space at the top of the sports (varsity). I really like the baseball analogy since there are so many large scale feeder systems throughout the whole country. Most towns have a little league/peewee baseball league that has hundreds of kids in it; and that feeds up to the local team which at most has 18 kids in most states. In my area juniors and seniors can get dumped down to JV or FROS/FROSH due to less roster restrictions. Normally being demoted down is a punishment for behavior or grades; once in a while I'll notice a kid dumped off of varsity and it's because they have an injury and they're basically practicing at a lower level to stay connected to the team in active recovery; kind of stupid in my opinion. What are these sports and clubs offering that scouting does not? If your kid is 1 in hundreds at the grade school level and their only shot is to make 1 of 18 spots at the varsity level; what's the connection? What's the draw? I think it's that the sports are basically saying "your kid will get X" and they deliver.

That appears to be subjective on the part of the Trustee. My hunch, and it's only that, that cases where there was ample notice (abuser was known to the BSA prior) and the covering insurance company has a lot of primary liability for coverage, would be ripe for release.

Scouts from Troops 448 (Boys)/4448 (Girls), in Salisbury, recently returned from a backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail near Burkes Garden, Virginia, where seven Scouts and five adults challenged themselves hiking along Garden Mountain. The weekend-long adventure combined outdoor skills, conservation service and personal growth in one of the most remote valleys in the eastern United States. ... Scoutmaster Dr. Prachee Jain indicated that the hike adds another section to Troop 448’s long-term goal of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail. “The troop began this journey back in the 2003 and over the years, our Scouts have completed roughly 140 continuous miles from Springer Mountain Georgia into North Carolina and numerous additional sections in N.C. and Virginia,” Jain said. “Each trip brings us closer to that goal while building memories.” More at sources: https://www.facebook.com/p/BSA-TroopCrew-448-Salisbury-NC-100068853911904/ https://www.salisburypost.com/2025/12/07/local-scout-troops-take-on-appalachian-trail-adventure/