2019 World Jamboree

[Hawkwin]

Bummed that 13 yr olds cannot go as attendees. My son will be a few months shy of his 14th birthday by the deadline.

We might make the road trip down just to do some day visits.

[qwazse]

15 hours ago, Hawkwin said:

Bummed that 13 yr olds cannot go as attendees. My son will be a few months shy of his 14th birthday by the deadline.

We might make the road trip down just to do some day visits.

Stay positive. If your scout really wants to go to the World Jamboree but is too young now, start making a plan to save for South Korea in 2023.

[Hawkwin]

Hah!

Yes, saving would be required for such a trip vs the cheaper road trip we would take to get to it next year.

[qwazse]

21 minutes ago, Hawkwin said:

Hah!

Yes, saving would be required for such a trip vs the cheaper road trip we would take to get to it next year.

National Jambo will still set you back a chunk of change. Especially if you also apply and get approved as an ASM or sign up as staff. I give young scouts a very simple strategy: Make yourself useful to your folks to the tune of $100/month. Work on Personal Management MB. Put that cash into savings. Then, by the time an opportunity like this rolls around, you can jump on it. Or, maybe you might pass, but you'll still have a couple of grand for whatever big-ticket item you'd like.

If your son isn't really interested in the whole massive convention thing, and just wants to check out SBR, he should consider joining a contingent bound for the summer programs that they have there. For example, I know a some crews' appetite was sated by Venturingfest.

[mashmaster]

My son is going, just registered.

[qwazse]

Met our troop today. 80% of the boys could attend. After introductions, the SM had a breakout with parents (who he said seemed like a really good group) and we monitored  patrol corners to see how everyone was getting along.

Three of our four patrols figured out their names.  (One guess whose scouts couldn't get their patrol to settle on a name. So, for now we're calling them Den #_.)

A goodly number had experience at National Jamboree, so they could explain facilities pretty well. (Note to adults: not one complaint about showers. Just saying.) Other scouts knew the location of their shakedown weekend. Everyone brought up great questions -- for which we had answers to about half.

I think we're gonna like camping with this group.

We have room for 6-8 more scouts, but looks like that will close up quickly, especially if another region's troop doesn't reach critical mass and has to send a few of its boys our way.

[Summitdog]

I intended to be a shooting sports instructor for a week but BSA requires all volunteers to commit to the full two weeks, which I cannot do.  (That seems pretty demanding from volunteers). It is my understanding that there is a shortage of shooting sport instructors too.  I am certified as a Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol instructor and a certified Range Safety Officer so I could fill in where necessary.  I just hope that scouts will not miss out on shooting sports opportunities because of lack of staffing.

 

Scotty

[qwazse]

1 hour ago, Summitdog said:

I intended to be a shooting sports instructor for a week but BSA requires all volunteers to commit to the full two weeks, which I cannot do.  (That seems pretty demanding from volunteers). It is my understanding that there is a shortage of shooting sport instructors too.  I am certified as a Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol instructor and a certified Range Safety Officer so I could fill in where necessary.  I just hope that scouts will not miss out on shooting sports opportunities because of lack of staffing.

 

Scotty

Not too worried if the American scouts miss out. Most can get range time at home. For those Brits, on the other hand, this might be their only chance to shoot something besides air rifles.

[Cambridgeskip]

Interestingly over the weekend applications to join IST as part of the UK contingent reopened at the weekend. No mention of shooting instructors specifically but it does look like they are running short.

Quite right it's a big commitment. I would love to be part of it but throw in travel time and it's the thick end of 3 weeks, I can't commit to that kind of thing.

[John-in-KC]

6 hours ago, Summitdog said:

I intended to be a shooting sports instructor for a week but BSA requires all volunteers to commit to the full two weeks, which I cannot do.  (That seems pretty demanding from volunteers). It is my understanding that there is a shortage of shooting sport instructors too.  I am certified as a Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol instructor and a certified Range Safety Officer so I could fill in where necessary.  I just hope that scouts will not miss out on shooting sports opportunities because of lack of staffing.

 

Scotty

Contact Kenn Miller. He’s the director of operations at the Summit. He might be able to do a waiver. 

[ianwilkins]

7 hours ago, qwazse said:

Not too worried if the American scouts miss out. Most can get range time at home. For those Brits, on the other hand, this might be their only chance to shoot something besides air rifles.

Small point of order...some of our leaders have just got qualified to teach air pistol as well as air rifle. No snickering at the back. Not regularly, but ours have had the opportunity to go to Bisley and shoot all sorts of things, .303 rifles, 300yrd ranges. We could take them clay pigeon shooting, but it's very expensive. 

Oh, and paintball, and nerf guns, and water squirt guns 😛

 

2 hours ago, Cambridgeskip said:

Interestingly over the weekend applications to join IST as part of the UK contingent reopened at the weekend. No mention of shooting instructors specifically but it does look like they are running short.

Quite right it's a big commitment. I would love to be part of it but throw in travel time and it's the thick end of 3 weeks, I can't commit to that kind of thing.

Yes, I saw that and thought...oooohhhh, yes....then thought...awww, no. Would drop my other leaders in it for our explorers summer camp, and don't have enough leave for near three weeks, and it may put a little grit into the familial wheels, so on balance... it's a no from me.

[Saltface]

 

3 hours ago, ianwilkins said:

Oh, and paintball, and nerf guns, and water squirt guns 😛

I'm curious, do your scouts have the same silly restrictions we do about not shooting each other with toy guns?

3 hours ago, ianwilkins said:

We could take them clay pigeon shooting, but it's very expensive. 

Why is it so expensive?

Sorry, not trying to derail the topic.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Saltface

[ianwilkins]

18 minutes ago, Saltface said:

 

I'm curious, do your scouts have the same silly restrictions we do about not shooting each other with toy guns?

Why is [clay pigeon shooting] so expensive?

Sorry, not trying to derail the topic.

Not sure what you mean by "toy" guns. If you mean, literal kids toys, I don't see why not, but they're not firing projectiles. We can use nerf guns, that use foam "bullets", we just need to risk assess it. We can use water pistols, squirt guns, for summer water fights. We can play laserquest. We can go and play paintball (though generally the sites restrict it to over 14 years old for normal power guns).

Clay pigeon shooting is expensive, well, I don't know anyone with a shotgun license and land enough to shoot on, we probably could, with a bit of work, sort something out cheaper than going commercial, but I'd guess the cartridges and the clays would still soon add up.

Anyway, back to WSJ...

[mrkstvns]

I think Salface is referring to this rule (from the "Guide to Safe Scouting":

Pointing any type of firearm or simulated firearm at any individual is
unauthorized. Scout units may plan or participate in paintball, laser tag
or similar events where participants shoot at targets that are neither living
nor human representations. Units with council approval may participate in
formally organized historical reenactment events, where firearms are used
and intentionally aimed over the heads of the reenactment participants.
The use of paintball guns, laser guns or similar devices may be utilized in
target shooting events with council approval and following the Sweet 16 of
BSA Safety.

 

[mashmaster]

8 hours ago, Cambridgeskip said:

Interestingly over the weekend applications to join IST as part of the UK contingent reopened at the weekend. No mention of shooting instructors specifically but it does look like they are running short.

Quite right it's a big commitment. I would love to be part of it but throw in travel time and it's the thick end of 3 weeks, I can't commit to that kind of thing.

I think that the shooting instructors have to be NRA registered instructors so that might be why they didn't mention it in the international email.  I heard that somewhere but can't confirm if it is true or not.