Patrol Spirit

[pinhoti]

Our PLC has noticed that our Patrols aren't as tight as they ought to be. In addition to the usual interpatrol activities conducted during Troop meeting the PLC wants to try a point system to encourage competition between the Patrols. This point system would be based on things such as uniforming, attendance, and preparedness. The reward will be something like the Scoutmaster serves the highest scoring Patrol breakfast in their tents on the next outing, or some other privilege.

Has anyone seen anything like this in print? Has anyone tried this? What where the results?

Pinhoti

[eisely]

Running competitions among patrols is an effective way to build patrol spirit. I am not aware of any written materials on the subject. I would suggest keeping the competitions simple, frequent, and short term with immediate payoffs. There should be enough opportunity for every patrol to come out on top and get some immediate gratification to keep everybody in the game. Let me tell you about something I did once that yielded surprising results.

 

The troops I have worked with, like many units, stage "pre camporee" events to practice the skills needed for the camporee competitions. One year, I bought some ribbon and made cheesy little awards at the pre camporee event. I handed some of these out at lunch time half way through the event. Nobody knew this was going to happen and all the scouts were caught by surprise. I was amazed at the effect hanging a piece of ribbon on a patrol flag had. The afternoon session got really intense. Even the more jaded sopohisticated older scouts pitched in during the afternoon to get their little piece of glory.

 

Another scoutmaster I knew would occasionally bring a gallon of ice cream, paper bowls, and plastic spoons to troop meetings. This would go to the patrol that did best that evening on uniform inspections, or some other structured competitive activity. Needless to say the scouts loved it.

 

You are limited only by your imagination.

[Chippewa29]

Having extrinsic (outside) rewards is one good way to build patrol spirit. People have a natural tendacy to develop an "us vs. them" mentality. As my troop has only eight active Scouts (and thus one patrol), we don't have the element of competition to drive them (although I'm hoping that comes in the future). However, our kids are becoming very tight night simply by spending time together and accomplishing things together. Through the hikes, campfires, swims, and dishes, they are becoming a unit.

 

How much time does your patrol spend alone (without the other patrols around) bonding and working on things together? At JLTC, one of the things we used to do was have patrols where no one knew each other when the participants arrived on Sunday. Obviously, things were very awkward at first. Over the next few days, they slowly started to get to know each other and become more of a unit. On Wednesday night, the patrols go off to the back part of the property to stay overnight by themselves. When they returned Thursday morning, you could notice the difference in how close they were.