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Rover Scouting is a service division of Scouting for young men, and in some countries, women. A group of Rovers, analogous to the Boy Scouts' troop, is called a 'crew.'
Principles
Rovering provides enjoyable activities that combine personal development with meaningful service. A Rover crew governs itself, but often has an older adult as a 'Crew Advisor' or 'Rover Scout Leader.' The founder of Rovering, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, called it a “brotherhood of open air and service.”
The objectives of Rovering are to:
- Provide service to the Scout Movement
- Provide service to the community
- Develop as individuals by expanding one's range of skills
- Enjoy fellowship, social, outdoor, and cultural activities
Rovering provides an experience that leads to a life enriched in the following ways:
- Character and Intelligence
- Handicraft and Skill
- Health and Strength
- Service for Others
- Citizenship
Each of these elements, from character through service, finds expression in the crew's activities.
From the organization's inception in 1918, Baden-Powell intended Rovering to have no upper age limit; however, after his death in 1941, the typical age shifted to 18 - 25. Traditional Scouting Organizations such as World Federation of Independent Scouts (WFIS), Baden-Powell Scouts (BPSA), Rover Explorer Scouts Association (RESA), Pathfinder Scouts Association (PSA), and the United States Rovers continue to honor the founders intent by having no upper age limit.
- "Rover Scouting is a preparation for life, and also a pursuit for life."
- - Baden-Powell, 1928.
Rovers in the United Kingdom
Rovering began in 1918 in the UK, ten years after the start of the Scouting program. After an initially rough start, due in large part to the impacts of the First World War, the Rover Scout program began to grow.
By 1931, Rovering had established itself internationally to the extent that it saw the organisation of the first World Rover Moot in 1931 at Kandersteg, Switzerland.
Initially, there was no upper age limit. Later it was fixed at 25. Rovers Scouts were abolished in 1968, when Venture Scouts with an age range of 16 - 19 were introduced. Scout Network was introduced in 2003 to cover the age range 18 to 25 that much earlier had been the Rover Scout age range.
Rovers in the US
Early days
In the United States, glimmerings of Rovering emerged as local councils, Scout leaders, and Scouts worked together to deal with the "older boy" problem--that is, to find some way for Scouting to continue into young adulthood. As early as 1928 there were known to be Crews in Seattle, Detroit, Toledo and elsewhere. The program particularly flourished in New England around 1929, through the efforts of Robert Hale, who produced an early Rover Scout booklet. By 1932, there were 36 official experimental Crews, with 27 of them in 15 New England councils. Finally, in May of 1933 the National Executive Board approved the program, and starting plans for development of literature and helps to leaders (Brown, 2002). A bimonthly newsletter, the Rover Record, was inaugurated in 1935 as a means of communicating with directly with Rover Scouts and Leaders. A number of regional Rover Moots also were implemented during this period.To further support the start of Rovering in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the first Wood Badge course held in the United States was a Rover Scout Wood Badge course, directed by English Scouter John Skinner Wilson.
Rovering, as it was conceived, was to serve as the oldest section in the program -- the final stage of Scout training that started with Cub Scouts, continued with Boy Scouts and was brought to fruition through Rovering.
Decline
The program was never very widespread in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The national office didn't promote it much, preferring to push other senior programs like Sea Scouts and Explorer Scouts. Literature of the time, if it mentioned Rovers at all, gave them only a few paragraphs or a page or two. As the First World War had slowed the start of Rovering in the UK, the Second caused the same difficulties for Rovering in the USA, as many young men of Rovering age fought for their country overseas. The economic upheavals of the Great Depression also hampered the development of Rovering.By the time of the 1949 reconceptualization of senior Scouting, the BSA only recognised 1,329 Rover Scouts. In 1952, BSA decided to stop chartering new Crews. In 1953, only 691 Scouts were officially recognised as Rovers; after that year, they were counted together with Explorers. In 1965, when several other changes occurred in the Senior programs, National stopped renewing the registrations of Rover crews. Those crews that continued to exist where apparently re-registered as Exploring posts (later Venturing crews), but continued to use the Rover program.
Among the most widely known of these Crews was the influential B-P Rover Crew of Glasgow, KY, which delivered the Rover Scout program from the 1950s until 2000. The B-P Crew was instrumental in starting other Crews such as the Kudu Crew of Bardstown, KY and the Diamond Willow Crew of Chicago, IL. The B-P Crew also hosted the internationally well-regarded Rover Wee Moot from 1953 until 1999.
Now, Rovering in the USA is being rekindled in the form of the United States Rovers. Not associated with the BSA, this group of American Scouters is dedicated to perpetuating the history and traditions of Rover Scouting.
Rovers in Australia
Rovers (Australia) includes men and women aged 18 to 26. It may be a small section of Scouts Australia, but it provides a great source of leader support for the association. The section resisted attempts to abolish it in the 1960s Advance Report (unlike its British counterpart, which was disbanded), but did modernise in the next decade. It admitted women in 1974.
The next great step, self-government, came about in the late 1970s with the Georges River experiment (named after a Scouting district in New South Wales). Rovers proved that they could govern themselves, as their leaders stepped back to become Rover Advisers. Rovers took up the challenge and the section has grown for the better. It is also around this time that the section came to be known as the 'Rovers' (dropping the word 'Scouts').
Australian Rovers provide active service to the Venturer section (14- to 17-year-olds), as well as the Joey Scouts, Cub Scout and Scout sections. Service in the community is also valued, with many Branch Rover Councils (the governing bodies for Rovers in each State and Territory) awarding annual awards to Crews who provide exemplary service to the community and/or scouting.
Another notable feature of The Australian Rover Movement is that ScoutReach Lone Rovers, A "National Crew", with membership from most states of Australia, drawing their membership from across the rural parts of the states, or from Rovers who (because of work or other reasons) cannot be members of traditional rover crews. Meetings are held in Brisbane, though most States/areas hold their own meetings so they do not have to travel across great distances to get to the Brisbane meetings, with an Annual Camp occurring In B.P. Park, Samford, Queensland.
National Rover Moots are held every 3 years in Australia and the next one, AussieMoot, will be held near Sydney in the 2007-08 summer. In 2008, Australian Rovers mark their 90th birthday, along with the 100th anniversary of scouting in Australia.
Rovering In Other Countries
Rovering spread to many other countries following its inception in Britain in 1918, although it no longer exists in Britain. Today, the Rover section remains an important part of Scouting in many European countries, in most member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations (eg. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India), across Central and South America, the Middle East and in many other countries such as Japan, Thailand and Korea. New Zealand Rovers, in particular, hold a National Moot every year over Easter Weekend where international participants are always openly welcomed.
Rover Scouting continued among the troops during the Second World War, even in Prisoner of War (POW) camps. Some artifacts of the Rover crew at Changi, including the crew flag, have been preserved; they are now held by the Scout Heritage Centre (Scouts Australia, Scouting in Victoria).
See also
External links
- New Zealand Rovers
- History of Rovers in UK
- Scouting Milestones describes Rover Crews in POW camps during World War II
United States:
Australia:
- Rovers Australia
- AussieMoot
- ScoutReach Central - The Web Based home of the Australian ScoutReach group, Including the rover section
"Rover Scouts"