Venture Patrol - How to get started?

[alex gregory]

OK, I think I understand the basics. We got 13+ year old Scouts who are understandably getting a little tired of the same old same old, and the time is long overdue to add more high-adventure spice.

My son's troop has a habit of losing Scouts within hours of finishing Eagle. We have three Scouts right now (ages 15, 16, and 17) who are "active" only for the purpose of finishing their project, and then they plan to go. I would like to stop losing the 13 to 18 year olds, and a venturing program is the obvious solution. I also think it is healthy to let the older guys occasionally do stuff without the younger guys.

My thought is to start a Venture Patrol for the 13+ crowd, that does it's high adventure stuff without the younger guys at least a few times a year, and as interest builds develop a Venturing Crew. I really don't like the idea of poaching all the older guys out of existing patrols into a new patrol; that stinks of elitism and we have enough of that already. I assume the older Scouts who are interested add a "Venture Patrol" patch to their uniform (everybody loves more swag), and do their venturing thing as a Patrol when they are actually doing their venturing thing, and the rest of the time they are doing the usual scout thing within their existing patrols.

Tell me what works and what does not work. Thanks.

[wagionvigil]

Do not start a Venture Patrol. Start a Crew separate from the Troop. Members of a Venture Patrol are not Ventures they are Boy SCouts and can only do Boy Scout Activities. They Do not do Venturing Things they just do Boy Scout things by themselves without the Younger Crowd. You can not call them ventures or say you are doing Venrturing Activites They are neither.

[alex gregory]

Do not start a Venture Patrol. Start a Crew separate from the Troop. Members of a Venture Patrol are not Ventures they are Boy SCouts and can only do Boy Scout Activities. They Do not do Venturing Things they just do Boy Scout things by themselves without the Younger Crowd. You can not call them ventures or say you are doing Venrturing Activites They are neither.

OK. But to join a Crew you must be 15, or 14 and completed 8th grade, right?

I'm just not convinced that most boys are going to leap into the great unknown of Venturing without first acquiring a taste for more adventurous outings.

[wagionvigil]

They must be 14 and finished grade 8.

[kwildman]

Do not start a Venture Patrol. Start a Crew separate from the Troop. Members of a Venture Patrol are not Ventures they are Boy SCouts and can only do Boy Scout Activities. They Do not do Venturing Things they just do Boy Scout things by themselves without the Younger Crowd. You can not call them ventures or say you are doing Venrturing Activites They are neither.

OK. But to join a Crew you must be 15, or 14 and completed 8th grade, right?

I'm just not convinced that most boys are going to leap into the great unknown of Venturing without first acquiring a taste for more adventurous outings.

Go to a venturing leader training course or powderhorn class and you will get tons of info and videos promoting the venturing program. Some of these may also be available on line.

[Mrw]

We do have a Venturing Crew in town and at least one boy who is active in both that and in the troop. There does not seem to be much interest from any of the other older boys in going that way. It may be the Venture Crew is not very active or imaginative.

We also have a group of older boys in the troop who want to do more higher adventure stuff. They formed a group just for that purpose and call themselves the Extra Mile Crew. They require age 14 and First Class. This is outside of their regular patrols. They have gone backpacking a few times and are planning a rafting trip later this year. Some of the older boys want this and some are not interested at all, but the boys are taking the lead here and this is how they organized it.

[jr56]

Venture crew is definately the way to go. It opens up additional opportunities for the boys. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[Mrw]

Now that our older boys' higher adventure patrol is established and active, they are now ready to charter themselves as a new Venture Crew with their focus as adventure and service.

Hopefully, this sort of start will give them a better chance of surviving as a functional and healthy unit than the ones we have seen come and go after being started by adults.

[Billiken]

I think I know the answer to this, but just to clarify:

A couple of my older Scouts are dual-registered with both our Troop and the new Venturing Crew.
If it's a crew event, they can do all Venturing-approved activities, right???

[wagionvigil]

I think I know the answer to this, but just to clarify:

A couple of my older Scouts are dual-registered with both our Troop and the new Venturing Crew.
If it's a crew event, they can do all Venturing-approved activities, right???

But not on troop outings only crew outings

[Cowboy]

Beating this horse again, but: What exactly can VC's do that Troops can't? I get the girl part (against it, it is BOY Scouts of America), hunting, and age requirements. I am not denegrating this aspect of BSA, I am trying to wrap my head around the "need" for VC's. Our boys do have "High Adventure" rules activities. This allows the older boys to do things without the younger ones once in a while. It also keeps the Scouts active with the Troop. I do not see a lack of activities as the issue with Eagles walking away. I see this mainly as a result of two other issues:
A) By the time most of these guys reach Eagle, they are learning to drive, playing varsity sports, finding girls. Doesn't leave much time for Scouts. How does adding an additional program to "work" at help relieve the time issue?
B) Poor leadership, both from the boys and adults: I keep reminding the boys that THEY run the Troop. If they want to have an older boy outing, they just have to talk to us. They should not wait for High Adventure.
Like I said, I know that I am biased against Venturing. I suspect that part of that is because I do not understand the program. I am not trying to argue against VC's, just trying to understand what they actually bring to the table.

[wagionvigil]

1. Can stay active as a youth until 21 like the OA
2. May shoot any gun there is.
3. Run the program. I know you will say the troop does this but sorry I donot totally believe you.
4.I would suggest you take a Powder Horn course(day camp for adults) and see
5. Venturing is Consultant driven. Training comes from experts in the field not older scouts or leaders doing the instruction. Yep I am a climbing Director But when doing Mountaineering for Venturing it makes sense to have someone from a mountaineering club or explorers club doing the instruction.

BSA must do two things Eliminate the Venture Patrol and make Venturing another step in the program KLike Tiger to Cub to webelos to scouts To venturing

[FrankJ]

Venturing crews are typically smaller than most troops. Which means they can a narrower focus. They can concentrate on things other than the outdoors. I know of one crew that meets at a dive shop & about all they do is Scuba. Boy Scouts is primarily an outdoor program. They are able to take on more advanced activities without worrying about what to do with the younger members.

[wagionvigil]

Venturing crews are typically smaller than most troops. Which means they can a narrower focus. They can concentrate on things other than the outdoors. I know of one crew that meets at a dive shop & about all they do is Scuba. Boy Scouts is primarily an outdoor program. They are able to take on more advanced activities without worrying about what to do with the younger members.

But those that are anti Green will say that is what Venture Patrols are for. Make it a mandatory move and be done with it

[Cowboy]

All other issues aside, I have a problem with making it a mandatory move. I realize that boys can continue to work toward Eagle while in Venturing, but how many boys are pushing the limit just to get Eagle done by 18. If we made Venturing mandatory they would have to complete Eagle by 14 or spend the same amount of time doing Scout stuff as they are already. I think that we would see a drastic drop in Eagles if it became mandatory. I do not feel that MOST boys are capable of completely doing justice to the Eagle process prior to 14 years old. On the other hand, like I have said in many other posts, wait too long and the fumes get to them and they drop anyway. Why a seperate program? Why not make the things that Venturers are allowed to do authorized for Scouts? Simply have requirements like age and/or rank? Age of 21? How old is everyone on this board? I am well over 21 and can take part in any activity that our Troop does. The only 2 restrictions on me are: I am physically unable to do some things, and I do not get an award (Merit Badge,etc) for doing it.

[wagionvigil]

Scouting is geared to 11-15 year olds now not to 12-18 year olds like it was many years ago. BSA Prides itself on not restricting activities or advancement for troop members so hense the Ventruring Program. Even the new scuba MB is not restricted by BSA but is by PADI? SO BSA is still not restricting taking it you just cannot complete it. ALso Venturing is not advanc.emnet driven but Fun and service driven

[FieldSports]

Cowboy,
The separation can also be thought like this..... why separate programs for Webelos and Boy Scouts? There are vast maturity, leadership and skill level differences. Most 17 year olds are not interested in hanging out with 11 year olds. The VC is meeting a need to group by similar skills and needs.