SubSM

Oh boy. Never been to Subic myself... but I have heard many stories from shipmates. I am glad to see you survived. Mike

All this talk of drunken sailors... it's like y'all have met some before. Revenue neutral is the best way to go. Mike

I think I have been here all of ten minutes. It has been a great learning experience so far. Mike

I appreciate your thoughts. It is good to hear a different perspective. My original point had less to do with parents attitudes towards sports (or scouts for that matter), and more to do with the bigger push for competing in sports over participation in scouts. I too have seen very aggressive parents in scouting. The question I am really looking for an answer to, is how do we as scouters help facilitate a program that draws the interest of more of today’s youth? Mike

The article brings up a interesting point, one of the major reasons parents want their kids to play sports is to help them get into or finance college. I am a firm believer that college has been completely oversold in the last 3 decades. Maybe this is starting to turn around, I can only hope. Mike

It’s that free market angle that I am looking to work on. I really don’t think there is much marketing, that I have seen, touting the benefits of scouting. There are many advertisements for sports, but not scouts. I can see this becoming a WB ticket in someone’s future. 🤔 Mike

I would agree that it should be an and, but that's tough to accomplish when sports requires attendance at practices in order to play in games. It's an idea that I totally understand, it's very difficult to just jump in and work as a team without everyone being equally prepared. The same is true with marching band, if I don't know my part or exactly where I am supposed to be it messes up everyone else. The very same idea holds true for scouts, lack of attendance at meetings prevents the proper preparation necessary for a successful outing. Sports/band are able to mandate participation, scouting is not. The question is then, why? What gives sports the 'authority' to mandate attendance? Mike PS. I am trying to think out loud here, not be argumentative. I appreciate everyone's feedback.

Prepared. For Life. That’s what was going through my head this weekend. I don’t know how exactly that happens on the court or field. I do know how that happens on a backpacking trip. I am not trying to put down sports, but I am preparing a vision where scouting becomes an important part of my community and hopefully yours too. Thank you for sharing the article @Jameson76 it definitely shows the downside to overdoing sports. It really feels like sports are oversold especially here in CT. Mike

Nine years later: I was thinking about this subject last weekend watching my niece's boys play a basketball tournament in their hometown. I watched as kids played their best and won some games and lost some games. They were excited to win, but not so happy when they lost. I also watched the parents react (in some cases very obnoxiously) to their kids paticipation. All I could think of was being in the woods trying to build a campfire, with no parents around. Noone to yell at the referee for a bad call; just wet wood, flint and steel. There is an honesty in having wet feet because a scout didn't bring boots for a rainy weekend, that can't be blamed on a third party. There is also compassion when another scout shares their fire to warm up the cold scout. I have heard advertisements over and over about the benefits of youth sports on the radio. How kids learn leadership and teamwork etc. Many of these benefits can be found in scouting. Teamwork: Nothing helps build a team than having to get a fire going in order to cook your meal. Leadership: The scouts are being led by one of their peers. Just curious what some of y'alls thoughts are. Mike

I am pondering to myself about how much the recent negative media attention is affecting peoples' thoughts about Scouts. Mike

I learned from the team teaching IOLS up here about using metal pans (I found mine at tractor supply 'Beren's 3 gal') for holding the dutch oven while cooking. It keeps the mess to a minimum and makes clean up of the coals/ash much easier. I also use the CampChef lid lifter that has the trigger pull on it. https://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-DOLL14-14-Inch-Lifter/dp/B003Z8YQAY/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=camp+chef+lid&qid=1565286864&s=gateway&sr=8-7 it's much easier to hold the lid and dump the coals/ash of the top. I also use a Crisbee stick to coat my dutch ovens after cleaning. It comes in a deodorant sized stick and works well. I found it on Amazon. And I can't say enough about using chainmail, it works. Mike

@qwazse that must have been a fun experience. I find it odd that SBR doesn't have water heaters, when our camp here in CT has water heaters for the campsite showers. Luckily my wife has been moved up off the waitlist, so she will get the experience of 'ambient temperature' showers.... I am still waiting for my chance. Mike

Share with your son that there are many scouters routing for him. All of us knowing about the endless trail of paperwork required for scout activities. Mike

Barry, I took your advice and talked with the SPL. We reduced our total number of patrols in order to have a higher number of scouts in the patrols. All of our scouts in the NSP decided to stay together and absorb some of scouts from the other patrols. We will keep this format for as long as it works. Thank you, Mike

We have totes with random old pots and pans. Each patrol has a mixture of cooking gear. Nothing fancy. Mike