Tiger Dens ?

[Eamonn]

My term as a CM wasn't that long.

About four or five years.

I was very fortunate in that I had a wonderful Den Leader Coach, a Lady who I swear woe her Cub Scout uniform to bed, in fact I rarely seen her wear anything else.

We were chartered by the local R/C Church, which had a small school and we had a very Cub Scout friendly Elementary School which went out of its way to help with recruiting.

Our Tiger Dens, were Dens.

Each Den had six or more Tigers in.

The Den Leader Coach hung around each Den until it was up and running and then eased herself away, allowing the parents to do their own thing. In time many of the Tiger Partners went on to become leaders.

 

Now that I'm trying to serve as District Membership Chair.

I do see the need to recruit these little fellows and their adult partners.

But looking at the Packs in the District, I see that they are small, some very small.

Most in the past few years have not recruited enough boys Tiger Cub age to form a real Den. Nearly all don't have anyone who seems able to help the adults get things going as they should go.

Packs seem to recruit a couple of Tigers,they don't seem to know what to do with them and the little fellows recruited in September have gone by January or February.

Of course trying to push the Packs to recruit more of boys this age is the easy answer!

But I don't know if this will happen and I have no way of making it happen.

So my question is, what do you do when you end up with two or three Tiger Cubs?

Do you try and keep going? Running the program as it is written?

Do you in some way mix them in with another Den?

I'm supposed to be giving a big presentation about recruiting and retaining Cub Scouts, sometime in early September.

I know how things are supposed to work!

Just not sure what happens when things don't go the way that maybe they are supposed to? (In the real world?)

Any ideas or help would be great.

Thanks!

Ea.

[SctDad]

EA

 

I have a question. Do you have den leaders for you tiger dens. If so I think that it can still be a great program.

 

I think that if you have 3 or 4 boys in the den then it may be easier for a TDL to run. He will have a few boiys that he is able to plan for and they can grow together and make the best of it. I hope that you are able to find another Tiger Coach. They can make all the difference to a new TDL.

 

Good luck with your recruiting and have a good year.

[Twocubdad]

This is nothing new to you, Ea, but here recruiting is driven more by the district through School Night Roundups than it is through the individual packs. Many packs, especially those chartered to large churches, have their own roundup nights at their CO. But I think most of the numbers still come through the schools.

 

We generally avoid the problems you describe because we're pushing new Cubs to the packs. If we get 25 or 30 new boys at a school night event, all the packs have to do is show up and process the paperwork. We even have some packs who show up having decided on the maximum number of new boys they will take. (These units are limited by meeting space.)

 

The down side to this is the larger packs tend to get larger. I'm not totally sure why, other than boys want to go where they have friends and they're more likely to have more connections at the larger packs. At schools where mutiple schools are recruiting, the district sends a representative to host the event keep the playing field level.

[Eamonn]

For the most part the District doesn't get involved in the recruiting.

We do organize events that Packs can participate in where they recruit new Cub Scouts.

The big event is of course school night in September.

(My days of working with the little guys are long gone! I don't think I have the patience to work with them or their parents anymore!)

Right now I need to be able to inform the Cub Scouter's what they should do if they only recruit 2 or 3 boys.

I'm thinking that maybe if the Pack has a ACM that having her work with the Den and help them recruit and organize things for the first few months might be the way to go?

Ea.

[ScoutNut]

While only 2 or 3 Tigers might be disappointing, it can work out fine.

 

The key is to inspire the families and to really bring them together as Tiger Teams working together in/for their den and their boys.

 

Having a den leader who stays with the Tiger den only, or another seasoned leader who can be their den leader for a few months to get them acclimated and on their feet, and then stays available as a mentor, works wonderfully.

 

Two years ago my Tiger den was only 3 boys. They had a great time together. All year the boys and their parents tried to recruit more boys. They talked it up in school, on the playground, in sports, and wherever they could. For one reason or another, no one could join us that year, but they did get interest stirred up. One of the dads signed on as official den leader for their Wolf year, with the parents of the other two working with him. Their den of 3 is now a happy Bear den of 7!

 

Don't combine the Tigers with another den. They miss out on the Tiger program, of Tiger Teams and shared leadership. The Tiger den is the perfect time to teach what Scouting is all about and to grow future volunteers who are enthusiastic about the program.

 

[MarinesWife]

I would encourage a den of 2 or 3 Tigers to just press on with their program!

 

Two years ago our pack had no Tigers.

 

At the beginning of last year, they had one Wolf. My son. (We had just moved here.)

 

Going into our Bear year, there are now 14 Bears! Depending on back to school night recruitment, we'll probably be splitting into 2 dens. Only 6 of those boys were recruited through back to school night last year. The rest were just by spreading the word.

 

Have your Tigers invite their friends. Give flyers out at their school specifically to their age group. Have a special night planned that is just for them. Wear your Pack T-shirt when doing anything near their school.

 

We got two of our boys because their mom stopped another mom (wearing a pack t-shirt) to ask her about our pack.