Get a life!
I mean for your Patrol!
Many Patrols are lifeless. These are called “paper patrols”. They have a name on paper, but it doesn’t mean much in real life.
Your Patrol can be different. An active Patrol is a real team: a real group of friends! It can have a real life that grows and becomes something more and more fulfilling… and fun!
I know it will work, because I did it! Over the next several posts, I’ll tell you how.
I remember one Troop meeting when my Patrol first started coming together as a team. I was a new Patrol Leader, and the Senior Patrol Leader told all the Scouts to break up for some ‘Patrol time’. Most of the Scouts sat down and leafed through their Scout Handbooks.
I wanted to try something different. I read that Scouts were supposed learn by actually doing stuff, not just studying in a book! What all the other Scouts were doing was boring; I had studied plenty at home. What was the point of getting together if we didn’t do anything? It was then that I decided to try a Scouting game I read about in a book.
I took my Patrol outside and tied a rope about chest-high across the opening of a nearby gate. The object was to get the whole Patrol over the rope without going under, touching the rope, or using the fence. It was pretty easy until we got to the last couple of guys. Then it got tough.
I won’t tell you how we solved it, but we did! While the other Patrols were bored, my Patrol went home after that meeting with a better understanding of each of our strengths and weaknesses. And we all had fun doing it!
Do you think your Patrol is a bit lifeless? Take a second to explain what you think the current state of your Patrol is; I’d love to hear your assessment!
In the next part of this series I’ll tell you who you need to help turn your Patrol into the best one ever!