As we enter the last few days of 2019, we look ahead to 2020 and what the scouting year brings.
Recently, the scouters, the patrol leaders and the assistant patrol leaders got together for a few hours to put together a plan for 2020. The plan itself is still being finalised but some points are important to note.
The early decision was to enter the Kon-Tiki raft building competition in 2020. This is a sea scout competition which takes place at the Sea Scout base at Zandvlei. Leaving aside the competitive aspect, it is demanding on the troop from a resource point of view, requiring commitment from all scouts to learning to build a raft and then to actually build it in the limited time allowed to the standard required. The competition is a fun weekend with not only the rafts, their building and dismantling but also fringe teams which have activities throughout the weekend. We have not entered the fringe competition before but we hope this year to enter teams. We are exploring the possibility of a combined team with another troop which would make the competition a great way to make new friends.
In the usual mix of hikes, camps, Springbok Scout activities (we are likely to award 4 Springbok Scouts in 2020), Thursday meetings and badge courses, it is also important to understand that the troop will be undergoing some substantive changes in 2020. In 2019 we introduced the new Entsha advancement programme and we continue to familiarise ourselves with this new programme. In 2020 we will welcome some 14 cubs into the troop while at the same time we say goodbye to 5 senior scouts. This will leave the troop with a large number of scouts under the age of 14, a very few scouts just over the age of 14 with only one or two scouts older than 15. This age profile is important in both the design of the activities in the year and understanding that the youth leadership in the troop will be both young and inexperienced as the senior scouts age out.
With this in mind, scouts are strongly encouraged to work on their advancement and also to attend the maximum number of activities possible. As the age profile changes, the activities planned become more demanding and more adventurous (e.g. multi-night hikes in remote terrain) and a scout must have the fitness and experience to attend these activities. Similarly, advancement and thereby the acquisition of skills is of key importance in doing activities and enjoying them. Without skills, we cannot undertake activities such as Kon-Tiki, pioneering, cooking, mapping and having the fun and making the friendships associated with scouts. Where a scout falls behind in advancement and does not join activities, their enjoyment of scouting dwindles. We do not like to see any scout leave the troop and while we accept it as a reality, we would like to see maximum participation and advancement so that scouts make the friendships and learn the skills that result in scouting being the amazing experience that it can be.
