Competition

Some bemoan the lack of competition in Scouting and the tendency to make everyone a winner. When did a major component of Scouting is competing with other scouts and that there should be clear winners and losers? Boys are naturally competitive, they like to win they hate to lose.

Competing is not a bad thing in itself but misapplied competition can be corrosive.

Winning is not always good, losing is not always bad.

Scouting is designed to recognize not only achievement but effort.

Competition is a tool, a means to an end, not an end in itself. The level of achievement is not as important as the effort extended. What one person can achieve easily may take another great effort to match. We want to encourage effort and confidence in individuals and the group. “Boys are especially sensitive to measures of achievement and failures. It is the Scoutmaster’s job to put these things into perspective for his boys. The boy whose inferiority complex has been born through many failures can have his first win or two made easy for him so that he is led to intensify his efforts. If he extends the effort no matter how clumsy, he can earn the Badge. This generally inspires the boy to go on trying and the sense of inferiority fades quickly.”

Baden Powell We are all not equally talented and gifted, but we can all extend equal effort in attaining a goal. When we are young we need to learn to deal with dissatisfaction and disappointment by assessing the effort we extended, recognizing how we can improve and redoubling the effort.

Scouts need to compete, they will compete and trying to stop them is fruitless. A scoutmaster should show them that it is not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game, how to develop resilience and the ability to encourage themselves. A scoutmaster should create an environment that doesn’t fetishize achievement but recognizes effort.