Looking to start all female crew - need suggestions, ideas, etc....

[new-all-girl-crew]

My 14 yr. old daughter and her friends are chomping at the bit for me to start up an all-female venturing crew. I am fully trained and understand all at hand that can be found in a BSA issued manual or conducted course. The problem at hand is knowing what camps, trips, excursions etc.... would be best suited for this new "green" crew to start off with. NONE of them were/are girl scouts. None of them have ever backpacked, some have minimal hiking experience (Ex. Hocking Hills, Ohio). I have taken them all camping locally, nothing "rugged" though. We are located in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area. Suggestions of camps, trips, hikes, adventures, etc.... that you feel would be suitable would be appreciated.

[Crew21_Adv]

New All Girl Crew,

 

Greetings!

 

Although I am not from the state of Ohio, it sounds like you do have a good start. I do not have suggestions or ideas for your local area, but I would like to offer comments about program.

 

What many of our peers would probably state, would be to have a program. Here are my thoughts....

 

For single day excursions you may be able to create a great program on your own. But for multiple days, if your local council does not have anything outside of the council camps, then fellow Scouters at your Roundtable may know of local outfitters which offer pre-planned and guided excursions, rental equipment, etc.

 

Always look to see if your program would satisfy advancement requirements (in the Outdoor Bronze and Ranger Award).

 

With 14 y/o girls (or boys), I would start with easier excursions, and conduct them monthly. I have fellow Scouters that believe each outdoor experience should be a high adventure and exhausting events (the boys usually go to their tents early when they're exhausted). Yes, some Scouts love the adventure and come back for more. Some other Scouts, after long hikes, scary rappelling, class 5 rapids, and bitterly cold rainy nights, may tolerate one or two campouts a year. So even for Venturers, you should want to offer something fun which keeps them returning for more.

 

So, for 14 y/o Venturers, make the program a memorable achievement which satisfies advancement. An excursion that they will remember, a program that they will achieve, and finally requirements (in six months to a year) they will achieve their Bronze Award or greater.

 

Good Luck to you and the Female Crew!

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv

[Kalae]

Hey! I happen to be crew president of an all-female crew. We've been going strong for two years.

 

As far as high adventure goes, I believe the poster above pretty much hit it dead on.

 

One of my best memories of a crew adventure was a week in west Texas, hanging out on the Frio river and taking VLSC, taught by our crew advisers.

 

My crew does a lot of stuff outside of camping trips and high adventure. This is by absolute no means how the program needs to be run, but Venturing as a program is so loose anyway, you can get away with pretty much anything. If the girls want to do something, then encourage them to find a way to do it. The program, in essence, is youth-led, to help these girls learn how to lead, make decisions, plan, etc.

 

As a suggestion, keep a roster. And don't underestimate the power of Facebook. An all-female crew. About a dozen plus some teenage girls. What's the one thing (besides their cellphones) that they check more than once a day? If you can start a crew Facebook group, you can send out mass bulletins very quickly and easily.

 

We meet the first Sunday of every month at one of the crew member's houses to have a planning meeting. We eat dinner, sometimes play a board game, watch old 80's movies, you know. Later on in the month, we have something to do. Be it an overnight campout, a Cub-o-ree to staff (a female presence at boy scout camps is ALWAYS welcome.), or something a little more unorthodox. Many of our girls are artists, so one night, as a crew, we went to see a travelling French Impressionists exhibit.

 

It is great that there are more all-female crews out there. Share the love. I wish you the best of luck.

[2eagles]

First, wish I lived near you. Sounds like a ball. Part of making camping a fun experience is being prepared, practicing skills before going. Ideas for short adventures as you get ready: I believe Ohio has guided winter hiking in some of the state parks. Start with short hikes (2 Miles). My oldest son, an Eagle Scout, thinks it is so cool, he also made the comment they will probably do better than a bunch of guys that age. He has some questions first -- do they have any equipment? If not don't run out and buy. If they do -- have them set up a campsite in someone's yard, small bites of information, 1. how to pick a tent site, 2. set the tents up and take them down several times (this can even be practiced inside) 3. Practice setting up your camping site as if you are in the backcountry -- a great deal of scouts get relaxed when they are in car camping situations then have to re-think 3. Make sure the hiking boots fit well -- this is no place to skimp 4. Practice first aid skills. 5. Learn these knots, bowline, figure of eight, square knot, taught line with two half hitches, heaving line knot,lashing square and diagonial, whiping and fusing rope, safe hiking, Leave no Trace, start compass skills and Backpacking check lists.

I also have tons of info for women in outdoors -- I am an avid backpacker.

Good luck will be happy to help in any way we can.

[ScoutNut]

As Kalae stated, Venturing is youth-led. Also, many Crews are created with a focus in mind. Why did your girls join Venturing? Find out what THEY want to do.

 

If they want to do camping and outdoor adventures, then they will have to learn the basic skills. Get THEM thinking about what THEY need to do, and how to go about doing it.

 

Have THEM check out area sporting goods stores and outfitters. Many have programs for the novice. This time of the year cross country ski, or snowshoe, workshops are likely.

 

Have THEM check out programs at the local Metro, state, and national parks. They might even be able to get a ranger to build a program specifically for them.

 

Are they interested in working on any of the Venturing awards? If so, THEY should look into activities that further that goal.

 

From just a brief search on the Net, I was able to find a number of things that sounded interesting to me. The point is, what sounds interesting to THEM.

 

 

 

[shortridge]

Check out Mohican State Park, near Mansfield. Has some beautiful territory there, and it's not too far away.

 

Have fun, and good luck!

[Kalae]

Thanks, Scoutnut.

That seems to be a prevailing issue in Venturing nowadays. It's YOUTH-led. We have one or two 'crew moms' who really like to play an active role. And frankly, I look at the adults' role as keeping us from killing each other. (remember...a pack of teenage girls.) Now, I'm not necessarily saying that you should let them go do whatever. I recall being fourteen and having a baby crew and the adults DID take a large role in running the crew. But as we all grew older and more independent, they have come to take a backseat.

[NeilLup]

I would suggest that ScoutNut has it exactly right. These girls want to have a Venturing Crew for a reason. The reason presumably involves either what Venturing is or what they perceive it to be. Likely, that involves some kind of hiking/camping, etc. but not necessarily. You do need to find out.

 

I know of one Venturing leader who had a GSUSA Troop who then registered them (with the girls enthusiastic participation) as a Venturing crew also. Of the about 10 girls involved, all earned the GSUSA Gold Award, the Venturing Silver Award and the Venturing Ranger award. About half earned the Quest or Trust awards.

 

Maybe I am naive (likely, I am naive) but I wouldn't say that you have an all-female Venturing Crew. Rather, I would say you have a Venturing Crew which happens to be all female.

 

BTW, I was recently in the hospital and bumped into the late 20s woman who is director of development for the hospital. Turns out she is the daughter of some long tenure, high level Venturing leaders in an adjoining council. She also was a very successful Venturer herself, holds the Venturing Leadership award, multiple time camp staff member and is a Vigil Honor member of the OA (having first been nominated for membership, of course, as an adult.) Young women do spectacularly well in Venturing and the National Venturing President commonly is female.

 

I wouldn't pretend to be able to delineate the differences between setting up the leadership in a Venturing crew which is all female vs one which is all male or both genders. I am sure that there are significant differences relating to girls vs boys styles of leadership. But having said that, once you know what it is that the girls hope to get by being in Venturing, it is simply a matter of providing it.