Storming

[Eamonn]

The Ship is now just over a year old.

Looking back over the past year I think we have come a long way.

From a dream to a Ship. Not bad in a year!

Some of the ideas I had in mind when the Ship started just don't seem to either work or be true.

I had thought that we might be able to pick up Boy Scouts who were bored with Boy Scouting or who had quit.

This wasn't for the most part what happened.

We ended up with the really active older Boy Scouts who wanted more.

The down side of this was :

Much as they liked Sea Scouting and the program, they were and are very busy. Some have wanted to remain active with their troops in order to complete their Eagle Scout rank requirements.

Some have a lot going on at school and have jobs. Many are very active in the OA.

They seemed to look at the Ship and Sea Scouting as something they would do if they were free and nothing else was going on.

I was happy that the Ship was/is there for them, but they seem unwilling to commit to doing things, which makes planning and getting anything done really hard.

I only have to look at OJ (my son) to see how busy these kids are. I really am trying to be as understanding as I can be.

Still, it's almost impossible to do anything when most of the members are "Visitors" and I never know when they are going to visit.

Last year five of the Sea Scouts left for college. They had every intention of keeping in contact or at least said they would! So far even though I send them information about events and what is going on. I have yet to hear from them.

Four quit after the summer.

Sadly with so many working at Summer camps trying to do anything from early June till the end of August didn't work and then I cut back on what I was doing due to circumstances at home. The end result was the list of visitors grew and some of the active members started to fade away, some have turned up for bowling nights when they had nothing else on.

A couple have said that they are "Taking a rest!!" They feel that they just became overwhelmed doing what they do!!

I really do want to be as open and user friendly as I can be. Still for the Ship to survive, they need to recruit new members -That isn't happening. Participate in raising money for the Ship -That isn't happening. Pay their Dues -Again that isn't happening.

If I sound full of doom and gloom? It is because the recharter pack arrived in my doorway on Monday. (Only 3 months late. But that's another thread!!) As I go over the list of names, I see we only have about ten active Scouts! Of that ten only about half are making it to our weekly meetings.

We do have a few youth members who really are into the program and at times I feel that the Ship and I are not meeting their expectations.

While I'm not happy with where we are at. I'm trying hard to remind myself that where we are at is normal!!

We have moved from the Forming Stage and are now in the Storming Stage.

All I have to do now is find a way out!!

Ea.

[CNYScouter]

I know how you feel as this sounds like what our Ship is experiencing.

We have been trying to work on our charter renewal.

The hardest thing is that 3 out of 4 Committee members will not be returning and we need to replace them.

Their kids will not be returning either.

 

We havent picked up any bored older Scouts yet either.

Next week we are having a booth at the councils Scout show in the local mall and hope to spread the word there.

 

I would look into Girls Scout troops for recruits.

I am trying to set up a meeting with a Senior Girl Scout troop that may be interested in joining.

We are also looking into the Mariner Girl Scout program.

I talked with the local Girl Scout Exec and she thinks they may have a lot young ladies that would be interested and adult leaders also.

 

We are also dealing with the active issue.

Right now we are down to 5 or 6 Sea Scouts.

There are 3 or so Sea Scouts that would like to go to the regatta in May and are into getting the uniforms and advancement.

The other half has no interest in this stuff and only see the Ship as a summer sailing club.

 

We also have been discussing fund-raising.

Two kids have said that they (or their parent) dont have the money to attend events but are unwilling to do any fundraising either.

Our CO has a couple of boats for sale for us but until they sell them wont do us any good.

I think if the adults do plan a fundraiser some of the Sea Scouts will come and participate.

I dont like having adults putting this together but we do need operating funds.

 

Our Boatswain quit this fall.

After discussing with him what it was going to take on his part to become Boatswain he was willing, but when the time came that he actually needed to do something he decided it was time to take a break from Sea Scouts.

I feel sorry for this kid. His parents do everything for him.

He was a senior in HS and had no idea on a Thursday night meeting that the following Sunday his parents had made plans for his college visits.

(I found this out when he failed to show at a Ships activity)

He had real trouble just following an agenda that I had helped him create much less create one on his own.

I thought that being Boatswain would be good practice for him as he told me he was going to college to be a priest!

 

We did have a young man visit us last meeting and he may be interested in joining.

 

I am still optimistic that we will grow this spring and slowly get to where I would like the Ship to be.

(This message has been edited by CNYScouter)

[jr56]

For whatever it's worth, I went through all the same problems with a Venture Crew a few years ago. It is discouraging, and I too wish I had some answers.

[scoutldr]

"Still for the Ship to survive, they need to recruit new members -That isn't happening. Participate in raising money for the Ship -That isn't happening. Pay their Dues -Again that isn't happening."

 

Sounds familiar...but I'm with a troop. The last group of Webs that crossed over are now the "older scouts"...Star/Life. Every BOR I do now, I stress peer to peer recruiting ... but no results. For the last 2 years, we've had no new ones. The feeder packs in our area are almost going under themselves. The pack that I split off as CM in 1982 and built up to 150 cubs rechartered late this year with only 6, only one of which is a Webelos. I'm hearing the same thing from other once mighty troops in the district. One troop (it's been around since I was a kid) approached us about their 4 scouts joining us for summer camp, because they have no adults able to go.

 

I don't know what the answer is. But we're going down the tubes fast. The district is struggling, the OA Lodge is struggling, units are struggling. Not sure I have the energy or desire to stay in the battle much longer. I had hoped to be around for the 2010 festivities, but it doesn't look like it.

 

[epalmer84]

I know the feeling. Last year I took over as the crew Advisor and found it pretty much existed only on paper. I squeaked through recharter.

 

I'm hoping to get revitalized soon. We just changed CO to a large church with an active youth. At least two Girl Scouts in the congregation are interested- both have Gold. I'm going to use Scout Sunday as a springboard. I figure that when the wife and I show up in green shirts, it will get some questions asked. I'm also doing an insert for the bulletin that might help get things going.

 

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Ed

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Like many here, I have an active HSer. At this moment, he's at an honor band weekend at a state university. The last two Crew meetings for him got pre-empted: School pep band is on the grading plan, and school trumps Scouting.

 

I think with the way teen lives are, we have to look at how we plan activities: IF we plan linearly or sequentially, I think we may be planning to fail, because many of our young people cannot get to each and every step the only night it's offered.

 

If we plan moving laterally, with a couple of meetings devoted to doing a task, and we lengthen out planning cycles for anything other than the big summer shows, we may have some more success.

 

My thoughts.

[Eamonn]

I really have no answer or quick fix!!

Last weekend we were in NJ for Quarterdeck Training. There were about ten Ships from four or five states there.

Part of the training was going over the Petty Officer positions in a Ship. When the trainer got to Crew Leader he must have noticed he was getting that deer caught in the headlights look.

When he asked how many Ship's had Crew Leaders, no hands went up. It turned out that the average size of the Ship's there was about 10 Sea Scouts.

Talking with the Skippers from other Ships at the Winter Training Weekend, it does seem that Hills and valleys are the norm.

Some of these Ship's have started Boy Scout Troops, where once a Lad reaches 14 he moves into the Ship, some are only accepting Lads of 13 and keeping them until they are 14 and have met the requirements for First Class and then move them into the Ship, so they can work on Sea Scout Advancement and Eagle Scout rank.

Some have started Mariner Troops working with the Girl Scouts.

I really don't have the time or the inclination to start a Boy Scout Troop and I traumatized by an English Girl Guide Leader, so I don't see me rushing off to join the Girl Scouts!!

When I was trying to track down our charter renewal packet I called the DE.

A nice enough kid but has no idea what he is doing.

I said that I wasn't sure if a Ship or Crew could survive without having a strong relationship with a strong Boy Scout Troop. He said the problem is that we don't have very many strong Troops, in fact there are only three troops in the District with more than twenty Boy Scouts!! Most of these tend to be the younger Scouts.

I know the youth are out there.

I like to think we have a good program.

The market is there, the product is good, I just need to find the way to the market.

Ea.

 

[Stosh]

I have seen a lot of crews come and go over the years. I don't know if what I do is anything special, but we're starting our 8th year this year. We have never been a large crew, 15 at the largest and 5 at the smallest. We often times have more adults that kids at events, and we have a like-minded CO. The crew is somewhat of an auxillary of the CO.

 

The key? The program is the key, not the people. We have very few kids interested in our program because it is extremely specialized, but those we get are 110% dedicated to the group. Some of our charter members have aged out and are now staying on as adult leaders. Our turn-over is rather quick. If the person is not interested, they will drop out rather quickly, but if they get hooked, they are in it for the long run.

 

The hobby is very regimented and we do not follow well the directives of the BSA Venturing program. We have by-laws, etc. but we don't have officers per se. Our senior most boy is a corporal.

 

This style we have adopted won't work for everybody and I'm not promoting it as such. But what each crew has to do is find it's forte and go with it. If it has no core goal, it will flounder around for a while and then die off. People will drop out when their satisfaction isn't sustained. There's always something out there that will compete with the crew and unless the crew has more to offer than the alternatives. People will always vote with their feet.

 

If you can't figure out what that core goal is for your group, or never had one to begin with, the only thing holding it together is the sheer will power of one or two adults. It just isn't going to sustain itself.