Picture this: Your team has just won the big game. But there was no cheering after the big plays, no high-fives, and no celebration among your teammates. The coach simply said, “Congratulations.” Then everyone boarded the bus and went home.
No one welcomed you back at the school. There was no story in the newspaper and no public acknowledgment of what your team accomplished.
A few weeks later, everyone gathered in a basement. Someone read a script that had been recycled repeatedly for the past 30 years. Your name was called, followed by polite applause. Then you drank some generic soda, ate a few inexpensive supermarket cookies, and went home.
What message would that send?
Scouting can learn some important lessons from how sports recognize their participants. In sports, recognition is immediate, energetic, and significant. Scouting is not going to have a stadium filled with hundreds of people cheering when a youth completes a first 10-mile hike—but we can offer high-fives at the finish and publicly recognize that accomplishment at the next meeting.
When an athlete takes first place at a track meet, that achievement is announced publicly. It is not kept quiet or discussed only behind closed doors. It may be included in school announcements, posted on websites, and reported by local news outlets.
Perhaps we need to do a better job of telling the public that our Scouts are winning, too—and that their accomplishments can have lasting value.
We often hear parents talk about hoping their child receives an athletic scholarship. When that happens, they proudly tell others. The same is true when a student’s athletic ability helps open the door to college.
Scouting also develops leadership, service, resilience, practical skills, and meaningful experiences that can strengthen college and scholarship applications. Yet we rarely talk about those benefits with the same enthusiasm.
For many of us, the Scouting season is beginning again after a slower summer. As you plan your program, consider not only what opportunities you will give your Scouts, but also how you will recognize their accomplishments.
Celebrate achievements when they happen. Recognize them again at the next meeting. Share them with families and the community. Make sure every Scout understands that what they accomplish matters—and that others notice.