Ideas for better camporees

[Stosh]

I'm not against rigged competitions, I'm against rigged teams in the competition.  Struggling new troops or dying troops do not have the luxury of 80 scouts of mixed aged patrols.  The game is already unfair and the boys haven't even started.  I send my NSP boys to camporees and have no expectations they have to compete, they are there to learn how the process works.  Nothing worse than trying their best and ending up last.  It's not fair to the new boys and they simply decide to go it alone and have more fun learning on their own at their own pace.

[Eagledad]

I'm not against rigged competitions, I'm against rigged teams in the competition.  Struggling new troops or dying troops do not have the luxury of 80 scouts of mixed aged patrols.  The game is already unfair and the boys haven't even started.  I send my NSP boys to camporees and have no expectations they have to compete, they are there to learn how the process works.  Nothing worse than trying their best and ending up last.  It's not fair to the new boys and they simply decide to go it alone and have more fun learning on their own at their own pace.

So I'm curious, why would the scouts, of a SM who is cynical of camporees, even choose to attend one. Given the choice, I'd rather go fishing than participate in an unfair rigged competition.

 

Barry

Edited November 7, 2017 by Eagledad

[Stosh]

Interesting question.  As I have said before, the boys make the decisions, not the SM  As "cynical" as I am, I still dragged a truck load of gear out to the last camporee the boys attended because it sounded interesting to them.  The way it was run, they had a good time. They had competitions, but they weren't the typical patrol vs. patrol.  They did the North/South thingy.  I had all my equipment and the boys thought my little presentation was well done and I got a lot of thanks from boys from the various units.  This camporee was held by a different district than the one we belong to. 

 

So, I too am curious as to why one would think the cynicism of the SM has anything to do with the program.  I go where my boys want to go and if necessary, or if I have the opportunity to make it better once we get there, pitch in.  If not the boys will choose a different option next time.

 

This time the opted out of the fall camporee, nothing sounded like fun.  So we went in the rain fishing.  It was an all day Friday and Saturday rain.  The boys caught fish, they learned how to fillet and cook them and they had a great time in spite of the rain.

 

So if the boys would rather go fishing than attend a camporee, what, other than adults, are stopping them?