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Female SPL


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So,

 

This summer my daughter will be the first female SPL for NYLT in our council. I was wondering how many other councils have broken this barrier?

We've had a few. They run things just like they do their crew. Giving that Venturing is more focused on project and event planning as part of rank advancement, Venturers are usually best prepared to run such events. All staff should have gotten plenty of training prior to the course starting.

 

The biggest issue is understanding and teaching the patrol method.

Edited by Back Pack
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@@KentuckyScouter, welcome to the forums!

And congratulations to your daughter. You should be proud.

 

However, among seasoned venturers, she's no novelty. We routinely push our venturers into leadership and service, so NYLT is a natural draw for many of them. Since at that level, the odds of a venturer being of either sex are about even, and the odds of finding venutrers on NYLT staff are high if even only a couple crews in your council are functioning as they ought, it is more than likely that a female NYLT SPL will turn up from time to time.

 

Are you sure this is the first time this has happened in your council?

 

@Back Pack is correct. Unless she is from a small crew, or a large crew that operates small "activity committees", the patrol method will have only been a theoretical construct. She will have to sell it without ever having tried the product for several years continuously. But, unfortunately, that's not unlike scouts from many of our troops these days.

Edited by qwazse
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However, among seasoned venturers, she's no novelty. We routinely push our venturers into leadership and service, so NYLT is a natural draw for many of them. Since at that level, the odds of a venturer being of either sex are about even, and the odds of finding venutrers on NYLT staff are high if even only a couple crews in your council are functioning as they ought, it is more than likely that a female NYLT SPL will turn up from time to time.

 

I think all but one of the new national VOA are girls. The website hasn't quite caught up to social media just yet.

 

We had a new girl join our crew. She's just turned 14 and she's already Pres and running the crew as if she'd been in Venturing for 5 years!

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Why isn't she the Crew President?  

@@perdidochas, as an advisor, I have no problem with venturers working their crew using the patrol method. I have had problems with boy scouts working their troop using a club method. I don't know if it's the age range, mixing of sexes, or something cultural, but the propensity for boy scouts to sit on their hands when someone else steps in to work is much higher than with venturers. The PM makes those boys more responsible for the working of things. So, for NYLT, the lingua franca of the patrol structure is a better option.

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Welcome to the forum, KentuckyScouter!

 

I have never heard of this, but then again I wouldn't know who the staffers of our council NYLT troops are.  (When my son did NYLT I don't think Venturers had been included in NYLT yet.)

 

It sounds to me like a natural result of including Venturers in the NYLT program.  It is kind of amusing that, due to the terminology used at NYLT, a young woman can hold a title that she wouldn't be able to hold in the program on which the NYLT staff structure is modeled.  Congratulations to your daughter!

Edited by NJCubScouter
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  • 3 weeks later...

I can speak from experience.  I know this is my first post but I was curious how people felt on this topic as I searched the internet.  I am the current Scoutmaster/Course Director for my council's NYLT course for 2017 and 2018.  We run two years as Scoutmaster and two years as advisor.  Last year when I was over program it was obvious who the most qualified person was for SPL and that was one of my female staffers.  We had a male SPL at that time and he did an absolutely amazing job.   For 2017 I put her in place (as well as a number of other females as guides and such) and she knocked it out of the park.  This year I will have another female but only because when I look at qualifications and who's heart is truly in the program that's what makes the most sense.  It doesn't hurt that I have young ladies who have staffed multiple NAYLE courses, sit on the VOA and hold regional leadership positions that help them to be the leaders they are.  To me we should be gender blind and pick the candidate who is most qualified to bring the best program to the youth.  We preach diversity in both Wood Badge and NYLT so I see it as just another way we live the values we are teaching.  Unfortunately there are those that do not feel that way.    

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I know this is my first post but I was curious how people felt on this topic ...  Last year when I was over program it was obvious who the most qualified person was for SPL and that was one of my female staffers.  We had a male SPL at that time and he did an absolutely amazing job.   For 2017 I put her in place (as well as a number of other females as guides and such) and she knocked it out of the park.  This year I will have another female ... 

Welcome to the forum @@HulkSmash!

 

The biggest practical concern that folks here may have (that may or may not come with underlying opinions about sex and development) is the level of experience implementing the patrol method.

With a Boy Scout's resume that experience is measured straightforwardly by years in a patrol, as a patrol leader, as SPL, etc ...

 

What about your female staffers' experience do you take as equivalent to the patrol method ... or what about her performance did you decide could be translated into being a guide to nascent PL/SPLs?

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