starting a new troop

[kittle]

I have been asked this question by a friend and told them that I would pose it to you all and find out what you could tell me. My friend as her boys enrolled in their local scout program. Due to something that happened to one of her boys at camp, she may be pulling them all from scouts. I mentioned Lone Scouting to her, but she was interested in trying to get a troop/pack started more locally. Here are the questions:

 

1. How many boys/ leaders do you need to start a troop or pack.

 

2. If you have had experience with this, how hard is it?

 

3. Would it be better to go Lone Scouting over starting a new troop/pack.

 

I think she would be able to find enough people for the pack, it is the troop that would be hard to put together.

 

 

[Bob White]

1. It takes a minimum of 5 boys and 4 adults (more is always better)

 

2. It takes effort on everyones part but anything worthwhile always does. the important hing to re,member is you are never alone, there are several district volunteers and professionals available to help you succeed.

 

3. Check with your local BSA professionals. Usually Lone Scouting is not an option in an area where troop scouting is readily available.

 

Scouting is more fun and you learn faster in a group.

 

Bob White

 

[ozemu]

Starting a new Troop without enough support can create a rod for your own backs for years. It takes that long for the Troop to get a reputation that attracts leaders and boys in my exprience.

 

They should do the groundwork thoroughly.

 

Others will dicsuss Lone Scouting Im sure.

 

Good luck either way

[kittle]

Looking back over my post, I didn't make it clear if I was talking about Cubs or Boy Scouts. I was actually needing to know about both. I know Lone Scouting isn't as good as going with an established unit, but in her case it might end up her only option.

 

Bob, thanks for answering so quickly. I am trying to gather as much info as I can to give to her. It is my desire that she make an informed decision. I am also going to tell her that she needs to contact her local unit office and talk to them about the situation.

 

 

[scomman]

We restarted a troop with 2 leaders and 3 boys. We receuited heavily and now have 8 registered adults and 8 boys.

 

The offical answer from our council was this was adequate to start the troop as long as we had the support of our CO.

[SagerScout]

Is she in a small town or something? I could see tackling a troop OR a pack, but both at once could be a bit much.

 

Our CO, a homeschool support group, chartered both a troop and a pack, but only one (the troop) has made it, at least so far. There just weren't enough cub/parent teams to make the pack go. And the troop has it's little problems as well, detailed on other threads, but we're still trying.

 

 

[dsteele]

I'll give the technical answers to the minimum requirements to start a pack and a troop. A lot of the responses I'm seeing build in this thread are volunteers who are telling you some of the realities of what can occur after the paperwork and fees are sent to the council office and you're chartered.

 

Pack minimums:

 

One Chartered Organization

One Chartered Organization Representative -- must be the same invdividual for all units of the same chartered organization.

One Committee Chairman (may multiple as the Chartered organization Representative.

Two Committee Members (Charter Rep. may multiple as a committee member or committee chair, but not both)

One Cubmaster

And the ifs . . .

 

If there is one or more Tiger Cub, there must be a Tiger Cub Den Leader.

If there is one or more Cub Scout (wolf or bear age) there must be a Den Leader.

If there is one or more Webelos (4th or 5th grader) there must be a Webelos Leader.

 

If there's only one program/age group, you only need a den leader for that group.

There must be 5 paid youth.

 

So, theoretically, you can start a pack with 5 adults.

 

Minimum requirements to start a troop:

One chartered organization

One Chartered Organization Representative (again with the can also be CC or MC thing.)

One Committee Chairman

Two Committee Members

One Scoutmaster

5 youth -- minimum of 3 paid as new and two or more can be transfers from a pack.)

 

Now, since you would like to charter a pack and a troop at the same time, I will tell you that I've assisted with doing just that several times. The committee folks (CC, CR, and MC's) can be the same committee for both groups. That means you can start a pack and a troop at the same time with:

 

One chartered organization

One Chartered Organization Representative

One Committee Chairman

Two Committee Members

One Cubmaster

One Scoutmaster -- who could be the same person, I suppose as the Cubmaster, but only if he/she is a masocist and you wish to help them die

And the necessary "ifs" depending on the age of your required 5 Cub Scouts and 5 Boy Scouts.

 

So the minimum requirement in terms of number of adults to start a pack and troop at the same time is (I wasn't a math major) 5.

 

In response to the person who chartered a unit with only 2 adults and three boys, my guess is that is the reality. There were probably two adults dedicated to doing the work and three others who signed on to help get the paperwork in. It happens, but it's not supposed to work that way. As to starting with three boys, it can be done with a letter from the Scout Executive, but it's more likely that a couple of boys who weren't really all that excited about the idea (or who's excitement wore off before the first meeting and never showed) signed up.

 

DS

[kittle]

Yes, she is from a small town.

 

Thanks everyone for the responses, I hope they will be of help to her. I am afraid that rather than try to start a group for he boys she will just pull her boys and quit Scouting all together.

 

Katrina