Any Scuba badges in scouts?

[Clanggedin]

There will never be a Scuba merit badge... Why? Here's a few reasons.

1. Like mentioned earlier, you have to be at least 14 years old to Scuba under the BSA. That limits the merit badge to Varsity and Venture scounts.

2. The BSA program is designed for youth to achieve their Eagle before they are 14. Both Varsity and Venture have their own awards that are different than the Merit Badges. Varsity scouts Work on programs that can involve aquiring a merit badge. Venture scouts don't work on merit badges at all.

3. Venture crews allow girls to join, but they cannot earn merit badges. They can however, earn the Venture awards (Scuba is an elective for the Ranger award).​

They should, however, have a special patch for those who complete their Swimming MB, BSA Lifeguard, Snorkeling BSA, and Scuba BSA awards.

 

[The Chairman]

The BSA program is designed for youth to achieve their Eagle before they are 14.

Sadly, while this may be the perception in some troops, the BSA program is designed to instill character, and the TARGET rank is really First Class.

Venture scouts don't work on merit badges at all.

Any Scout, having earned First Class, may continue to work on his trail to Eagle while a Venture Scout and as part of a Venture Crew. I have seen this happen a half dozen times. Unfortunately, this requirement effectively keeps girls from participating in these activities.

 

[Clanggedin]

Sadly, while this may be the perception in some troops, the BSA program is designed to instill character, and the TARGET rank is really First Class. Any Scout, having earned First Class, may continue to work on his trail to Eagle while a Venture Scout and as part of a Venture Crew. I have seen this happen a half dozen times. Unfortunately, this requirement effectively keeps girls from participating in these activities.

You are right, I am currently a Venture Crew advisor and I have 2 boys that will be getting their Eagles by the end of the year. I also have some that don't want anything to do with merit badges and just want to earn their Venture Silver Medal.

Hopefully with pressure from the dive community we can at least get the BSA to remove the age limit they have imposed on Scuba. Then once that has been eliminated, we can work on getting a Scuba MB added.

 

[The Chairman]

Personally, I LOVE the age limit the BSA has on Scuba. Far more appropriate in my eye.

Congrats on being a Venture Crew Leader... have you done Powderhorn yet? In fact I was just on a Powderhorn staff for a Utah Powderhorn in the Trapper Trails Coucil. We did it out of a Scout Camp in Idaho. We did the Scuba Experience in Bear Lake. That was c,c,c,c,c,c,cold at 50 feet (after the discover Scuba, we went looking for a lost sail boat).

 

[mike_s]

Personally, I LOVE the age limit the BSA has on Scuba. Far more appropriate in my eye.

).

while I haven't done any scuba related training programs with youth, I can understand this.

We've had 11 year olds go on BSA backpacking trips and it was obvious they were not prepared to be on the trip in both gear, conditioning, and maturity. Having 14 year olds on the same trip is a much different story.

I'm sure that the same can be related to BSA and scuba with youth.

 

[Clanggedin]

Personally, I LOVE the age limit the BSA has on Scuba. Far more appropriate in my eye.

Congrats on being a Venture Crew Leader... have you done Powderhorn yet? In fact I was just on a Powderhorn staff for a Utah Powderhorn in the Trapper Trails Coucil. We did it out of a Scout Camp in Idaho. We did the Scuba Experience in Bear Lake. That was c,c,c,c,c,c,cold at 50 feet (after the discover Scuba, we went looking for a lost sail boat).

I have only been a Venture Crew Advisor for a few months now. I was previously the Varsity Coach. I just finished leader specific training a few weeks ago.

I totally agree with the age limits too, but there will be no Scuba MB if there is an age limit on the activity.

 

[The Chairman]

Get to a Powder Horn. It is the most fun to be had in Scouting. In one week we took participants fishing, fly fishing, fly tying, Rock climbing, Caveing, Scuba Diving, Kayaking, Canoeing, Sailing, Rifle shooting, air rifle shooting, pistol shooting, black powder shooting, shot gun shooting, horse back riding and I am missing a LOT. Eat your Wheaties and prepare to have FUN!

 

[tbeindit]

A BSA scuba merit badge would probably be less then the PADI certification and probably focus more on book stuff to replace the certification dives. I suppose it would be more pool work or stuff along those lines.

 

[ps56k]

just a quick re-vist here...
--
hi -
Well... it's 10 degrees outside, and a couple of inches of snow.

We are with an group of teenage Boy Scouts - called a Crew - Scuba507
that have just received their PADI OW cert, and are now looking forward to AOW.

It's a little different with a Scout group in the midwest near Chicago,
as we don't have the luxury of being near warm clear waters like coastal folks,
or having the $$$ to just pick up and go somewhere like the usual diver demographics.

 

[bubaha]

There are currently no badges for scuba in scouting. The only patch that can be earned the the BSA scuba patch. This program is like the PADA intro to scuba.