1st Mate
01-07-2008, 12:13 AM
I have always wondered at the apparent conflict between High School athletics and Scouting.
It seems that Scouters and parents feel that the two cannot co-exist or that Scouting will always lose.
First off let me say I was not involved in team athletics when I was a student although I was heavily involved in other High School activities some of which were competitive. While I left Scouting during my sophmore year in high school it was because of boring troop meetings and no adventure on outings not because of extra-curricular activities. Boring troop meetings is why I think most youth leave scouting.
Units with good programs grow and units with poor programs shrink.
As a leader I have always been very flexible with youth and sports for a few reasons. Reason #3 Scouting promotes physical fitness. It is one of our 3 Aims of the program. How can I not support scouts who want to be physically fit by participating in athletics. Reason #2 Scouting has awards and recognitions for scouts who play team sports. If it were not possible for Scouting and team sports to to co-exist then why deveolp advancement and recognition for scouts who play sports?
But the #1 reason why I an flexible with high school athletics is that High School Coaches can't be.
It's unfortunate but we have a society where even at the junior high and high school level the coaches income and career depends on the team being on the field. If we have a campout and only half the scouts go, my pay remains at zero. But for a coach of school athletics that's not the case.
Since I am not silly enough to think I can change that, then I accept that I am the one who has to flex for the good of the scout. Many Scouters feel that means that we will lose the Scout. That may be true, but if you do, it will be because the troop program failed to engage the scout, and he would be leaving even if he were not in sports. I am convinced that we don't lose scouts to sports, we lose scouts to things they like better than scouting if scouting doesn't give them what they need and expect.
Here is proof! Today we presented the Eagle Scout rank to a young man who drives 90 minutes to get to a scout meeting. He is on the track team, the wrestling team, captain of the varsity football team, has a license and a girl friend, and at 18 and an Eagle Scout intends to stay in the Ship until he leaves for college in August.
Getting started on their Eagle projects are two more members of our Ship, both on the varsity track and varsity football team, they also drive 90 minutes to get to a meeting. All left troop scouting out of boredom.
Do they make all the meetings, no but we never insisted that they do. We asked them to do their best on their team (they went to sectionals). And we asked them to come prepared to the meetings they come to.
In the past I have been in units with allstar swimmers, wrestlers, track state champions, etc. All who stayed until they aged out of the program.
"If you build it they will come"
It's the program that keeps them not any individual leader, the BSA has built an excellent program.
"If you use it...They will stay"
Units that follow the BSA program will keep scouts years longer than troops that do not follow the program.
Don't blame sports, instead encourage Scouts to be fit and that put that fitness to work with adventures that challenge that energy and fitness. The two activities can co-exist, and the Scout will be a better person for it.
It seems that Scouters and parents feel that the two cannot co-exist or that Scouting will always lose.
First off let me say I was not involved in team athletics when I was a student although I was heavily involved in other High School activities some of which were competitive. While I left Scouting during my sophmore year in high school it was because of boring troop meetings and no adventure on outings not because of extra-curricular activities. Boring troop meetings is why I think most youth leave scouting.
Units with good programs grow and units with poor programs shrink.
As a leader I have always been very flexible with youth and sports for a few reasons. Reason #3 Scouting promotes physical fitness. It is one of our 3 Aims of the program. How can I not support scouts who want to be physically fit by participating in athletics. Reason #2 Scouting has awards and recognitions for scouts who play team sports. If it were not possible for Scouting and team sports to to co-exist then why deveolp advancement and recognition for scouts who play sports?
But the #1 reason why I an flexible with high school athletics is that High School Coaches can't be.
It's unfortunate but we have a society where even at the junior high and high school level the coaches income and career depends on the team being on the field. If we have a campout and only half the scouts go, my pay remains at zero. But for a coach of school athletics that's not the case.
Since I am not silly enough to think I can change that, then I accept that I am the one who has to flex for the good of the scout. Many Scouters feel that means that we will lose the Scout. That may be true, but if you do, it will be because the troop program failed to engage the scout, and he would be leaving even if he were not in sports. I am convinced that we don't lose scouts to sports, we lose scouts to things they like better than scouting if scouting doesn't give them what they need and expect.
Here is proof! Today we presented the Eagle Scout rank to a young man who drives 90 minutes to get to a scout meeting. He is on the track team, the wrestling team, captain of the varsity football team, has a license and a girl friend, and at 18 and an Eagle Scout intends to stay in the Ship until he leaves for college in August.
Getting started on their Eagle projects are two more members of our Ship, both on the varsity track and varsity football team, they also drive 90 minutes to get to a meeting. All left troop scouting out of boredom.
Do they make all the meetings, no but we never insisted that they do. We asked them to do their best on their team (they went to sectionals). And we asked them to come prepared to the meetings they come to.
In the past I have been in units with allstar swimmers, wrestlers, track state champions, etc. All who stayed until they aged out of the program.
"If you build it they will come"
It's the program that keeps them not any individual leader, the BSA has built an excellent program.
"If you use it...They will stay"
Units that follow the BSA program will keep scouts years longer than troops that do not follow the program.
Don't blame sports, instead encourage Scouts to be fit and that put that fitness to work with adventures that challenge that energy and fitness. The two activities can co-exist, and the Scout will be a better person for it.