Camporees - Ae they a thing of the past?

[EagleInKY]

When I was a scout, the Camporee was one of the highlights of our year. Competition was always fearce. You wanted to demonstrate your scouting skills were superior to those in other troops. You also got to know scouts from other troops, and forged friendships that stretch beyond your troop's walls.

 

I've noticed in our district, and I've heard it in a few others, that camporees are poorly attended, and not very well planned. I'm curiuos whether this is a local issue or more widespread.

 

As I see it, we're fighting several battles. Amonth them are: (1) competition for time (see sports v. scouts and other related topics, (2) the desire for more "exciting" trips, and (3) lackluster interest in "traditional" scout skills. I think all of these problems are having an impact on camporees, at least in our district.

 

Plus, our district does a terrible job of communicating. This year's camporee was advertised just two months in advance. It was too late for some troops, that had already planned other activities.

 

Any thoughts?

[evmori]

We do 3 camporees per year in my district - Fall, Winter & Spring. They are planned out well ahead of time & the dates & locations are published at the beginning of each calendar year.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[SR540Beaver]

Our district camporee is almost always in late March. This coming year it is in early April. All units know that we hold one each year and it is always right around the same date each year. If a unit doesn't plan for it, it is intentional. Ours is well attended and it is where the OA call out is held. The one problem we have with our camporee is that it has become a huge Webelos recruiting tool. Most every troop brings one or two Webelos dens with them to camporee. The Webelos are integtrated to a large degree into the troops patrols and compete in the activities beside the scouts. This tends to water down the competitive nature of the camporee since you have boys with limited scouting skills competing. Heck, I've even seen Bear Cubs at camporee. I've never understood why we do this since we have a district Webelos Woods each Fall for recruiting purposes. Before anyone says anything, yes I know that Webelos are only supposed to go to Camporees as a day activity or camp separately and have separate activities. Why our district ignores this is beyond me, but that is how they do it. Camporee seems to be alive and well in my district, just not concentrating on competitive scout skills.

[evmori]

SR540Beaver,

Webelos are not allowed to participate in Boy Scout camporees! This use to be a great recruiting tool for us, too, till National said we couldn't do it anymore!

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10(This message has been edited by evmori)

[fotoscout]

Ed,

 

Webelos are allowed at Camporees and they are welcome to spend the night. The restriction is that there needs to be parallel programs for them. They cannot compete with the BS's, for obvious reasons. But they can compete along side the BS's in a parallel program.

 

As for camping in a separate area, this is really a no brainier. They need to be separated from the mass of BS's at the Camporee. For our last Camporee that meant the BS unit were set up in the open field. The Webeolos were setup along one edge of the field. There was enough space that there was a clear separation of the BS's and Webelos.

 

The key here is to have get the Troop to recognize that these Webelos are with them, even though they are not in the same campsite.

 

[KoreaScouter]

Camporees aren't a thing of the past. What's a thing of the past is camporees the way they were 20 years ago (okay, a restatement of the obvious).

 

Others mentioned the challenges; competing activities, late planning, erosion of interest in Scout skills, etc. Let me hit these one at a time, and add my own.

 

1. Competing activities. Hogwash in my opinion. There have always been competing activities. The lads will do what they think will be the most fun, the most rewarding, or what their parents choose for them (usually most fun or most rewarding). Besides, who cares? If two units show up, you've got a camporee.

 

2. Late planning. A real factor. But, while it doesn't necessarily affect this camporee attendance, it can affect the next one. Units have long memories, and if this years' was broke, they may just do something else next year.

 

3. Erosion of interest in Scout skills. I don't agree with this one either. The Scouts will compete, and want to show their stuff.

 

4. Access. Camporees require more real estate than a Troop camp. We're losing access to places, or they're charging money when they didn't before.

 

5. Leadership. Who's going to do the detail work necessary for a top-notch event? It's very nearly a full-time job for someone, but we usually double-tap somebody who's already got a job. Something's going to get diluted, and it's usually the camporee.

 

In my last council, we did 3 district camporees a year. Here, we've done one 'till now, but we're planning a spring camporee in addition to the fall camporee we just concluded. Who's planning it? You guessed it, yours truly...

 

KS

 

KS

[evmori]

fotoscout,

That's what I said. They are not allowed to PARTICIPATE in Boy Scout camporees. By having their own area & activities they are not PARTICIPATING in the Boy Scout camporee.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[SR540Beaver]

Ed,

 

Same event, same location, same campfire, campsite next to sponsoring troop, eating with troop, activities ran by Boy Scouts. Just not competing in the same activities or camping in the same site. Participating, but not participating. Just different levels of involvement. What is the point of allowing Webelos to visit or camp at a camporee if you are going to put them on opposite sides of the camp where they can't interact at all?

[SR540Beaver]

Three camporees per year!? Isn't that excessive? Add in summer camp and that kind of limits a troop's annual program doesn't it? I realize that a troop doesn't have to go to a camporee. I'd think that the enthusiasm would begin to die down if the troop was going to a camporee every three months and attendance would start to faulter. I'm not criticizing it, it is just foreign to me. Why do districts do this? Are they in areas that don't provide much in the way of available camping opportunities? Does the district see it as their responsibility to provide program for the troops? That is a lot of coordination for district folks to have to deal with.

[evmori]

I have to admit three is a bit excessive. My district tends to overdo "program". We pick & choose which ones we want to attend. If the Troop doesn't go & we don't have any other Troop events planned, I usually volunteer to be on staff. The staff usually has a great time.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[EagleInKY]

It's good to hear that camporees are still alive and well in many areas. I believe the communication and planning problems are our biggest concern right now. Our last two camporees have been attended by 2 troops/2 patrols and 3 troops/4 patrols.

 

I also agree with the other points regarding location challenges. It's become harder to find a place that is available for a weekend that lends itself to this type of camping.

 

Regarding Webelos, we've never tried the "parallel event" approach. It would be worth a try, if we could get a well-planned camporee. Generally, Webelos may come out and visit for part of the day. But, given the turnout, it's not too impressive.

[evmori]

A good way to rekindle interest in camporees is to plan one with an interesting theme. My Troop sponsored one titled Americana. We set up each station based on a period of American history. We ended with the "Great California Gold Rush" It was well attended & the Scouts had a great time!

 

I think I still have the planning materials if you would be interested.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[fotoscout]

Ed,

 

Maybe its semantics, but our Webelos competed right alongside the BS's. It was not a separate competition held in a different arena at a different time. So YES they participated with the BSs, but they did not compete directly against the BSs, they competed against other Webelos.

 

The only thing I was disappointed with was that it appeared, that although the Webelos Leaders had all made prior arrangements with a Troop, none of the Troops seemed to take ownership of their Webelos. In troops where patrol cooking was done, the Webelos ate with the leaders. In Troops where group cooking was done, the Webelos just lined up with everyone else. The Boy Scouts themselves seemed to have little interest in the Webelos being present. When the weather turned bad, none of the Troops came to help out their Webelos. This was a big problem for some, and turned out to be big loser for some troops! One Webelos Leader was so fed up with his Troop that he will be going elsewhere with his boys in April.

 

From my perspective it was a great outing for my Webelos. They got to see the Troop set up for a campout. They played with a few of the BS's. They got underfoot while the older boys were cooking. But most importantly (to them)was that they got to compete and win something at a Camporee. They don't split hairs about who the competion was like we do.

 

[mdutch]

Yes. My first campout with boy scouts was a council camporee. We were at an air field. Scouts were allowed to participate in all sorts of activities, and earn several aviation merit badges (maybe even flight, I don't remember), if you signed up a gizzilion years in advance. There was enough space in these activitites (combined) for maybe 50% if the scouts there. The rest of us

[SR540Beaver]

foto,

 

That seems to be a common problem. We just had a Webelos Woods back in November. We started a brand new troop with 11 and 12 year olds back in June. We tried to get the Webelos from our old Pack to attend with us, but they chose to go with an older, more established troop. The Webelos leader is friends with all of us who crossed over, but I've heard thru the grapevine that he wasn't interested in us because we didn't have "older" scouts to serve as an example for the boys in his den. Well, they go to Webelos Woods with this prestigious troop who basically ignores them all weekend. He went to the SM and expressed his concerns. The SM came back and told him that he had talked with his boys and they said they didn't want to mess with the little kids!!! My personal opinion is that the SM should have had a little "come to Jesus meeting" with his scouts about recruiting to keep the troop strong and growing and remind them of when they were the new kids on the block. Guess what? All of a sudden our little troop of young boys is looking better and better to him. They are now interested in going to Camporee with us in April. His boys are Webelos 1's, so by the time they cross over we will have boys 13 and 14 who should be working on Star. I've seen too many boys in troops who just don't want anything to do with younger kids and then complain because their troop is so small. Camporee and Webelos Woods are your two biggest opportunities to do hands on recruiting and give the boys a taste of Boy Scouting. Blow it there and the word spreads.