The participation of a coed Explorer Post as part of the 1995 BSAcontingent to the XVIII WSJ in the Netherlands was a first step athaving a BSA coed representation at a WSJ. At the 1999 XIX WSJ inChile, each Region fielded one or more crews, again a small number,but a good effort. The 2003 XX WSJ in Thailand also fieldedRegional BSA Venturing Crews, and again the numbers were slightlylarger. At the 2007 XXI Centennial WSJ in England, even moreRegional Venturing crews participated. It is reasonable to expectthat a significantly larger Venturing presence will be seen in Swedenfor the XXII WSJ in 2011 since the Venue, (like Norway) should behighly attractive to youth.
The Venturing Crews with which I had the opportunity to participatein Chile and in Thailand were very enthusiastic and had a mostdelightful time sharing international dinners and campfires withtheir peers from England, Thailand, Sweden, and many othernations. Many new friends were made with whom our Venturers stillcorrespond.
Thus it is conceivable that by 2019, Venturing may have a significantopportunity to send many young men and women as coed Crews to bemore in keeping with their international peers. Since the age rangesfor most international Jamboree Scouts fall into the same averageranges as those of the Venturing program (14-20) this appears to be asignificant opportunity. It would be even better if the upper agerange for Venturers permitted to attend could be raised as the peakmembership numbers for Venturers in Crews today is around16-17. Perhaps the WOSM could be asked to reconsider the upper agelimits and extend them by a year or so.
Similarly the opportunities for youth and adults to serve on theInternational Service Team in support of the jamboree would be
significant and highly enjoyable.
Many of the BSA youth in Scout troops attending WSJ in Chile and inThailand were surprised to learn that Regional Venturing Crews wereat the jamboree and many said they wished they had known about theopportunity to attend as a Venturer, and that they would have likedbeing a member of a Crew since our Venturers shared with them howworthwhile their experiences as a coed unit at the Jamboree were.
I very much agree on the need for a return to Home Hospitality forinternational Scouts. Our Scouts and Explorers who attended the XVIWSJ in Australia in 1987-88 were hosted by families in New Zealandand reported that those experiences were as meaningful as theJamboree itself. Certainly the logistics of providing suchopportunities for that many international Scouts would be daunting,but given sufficient time to negotiate such arrangements, would be adelightful experience for both the host families and theinternational Scouts. Perhaps local councils could be asked toassist in recruiting host families in their locales toaccomodate touring international Scouts.
I certainly hope that BSA is selected to host the XXIV WSJ in2019. The 1967 XII WSJ in Idaho was a wonderful event in a mostmagnificent setting (attended by Lady Olave Baden-Powell) at FarragutState Park by Lake Pend Oreille, and a similar venue for 2019 wouldbe most delightful return to the USA some 52 years later.
Bob Amick,
(ret.) Advisor/Skipper Venturing Crew/Sea Scout Ship 72,
ASM Troop 72, Boulder, CO
AA WR Venturing Crew XIX WSJ-Chile 1999, Advisor, WR Venturing Crew
XX WSJ-Thailand 2003
Showing posts with label World Jamboree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Jamboree. Show all posts
Sunday, March 16, 2008
World Jamboree in USA 2019
From Tom Turba "The rumor mill is also saying keep your eyes open towards 2019. Apparently our new Chief Scout Executive is having thoughts of proposing that we have a World Jamboree in the USA again."
Don Roberts added "It also fits with what Bob Mazzuca (I'm never going tofigure out how to spell that name) said to me personally at WSJ this summer. He is a very strong supporter of international scouting, and consideration of hosting a WSJ fits well. I asked him if the BSA would bewilling to consider hosting a WSJ again, and he said "we would considerit." I discounted that a bit, as he was, then, brand new to the job andhadn't yet had to face the reality of top level BSA poltics. I'm veryglad to hear that, and hope the rumor pans out. It has been a very longtime since 1967 and a lot has changed since then."
A WJ in the US would definitely be exciting. However, there are a numberof hurdles that would need to be overcome. The most obvious is the coednature of international Scouting. When BSA last hosted a WJ in 1967, WJ participation was limited to boys. The last all-boy WJ was in 1975 in Norway. WJs are definitely coed now.
Just a few specific hurdles I can think of immediately:
1. The 20% rule - Others can correct me if I am wrong, but it is myunderstanding that youth participation from the host country of a WJ islimited to 20% of the total youth in camp. If there are 30,000 youth incamp, a maximum of 6000 can come from the host country. That means BSAwould be limited to about 6000 Scouts and Venturers. To be able to haveeven that many participate, we would need to attract 24,000 youth fromother countries. In a way, this rule penalizes large countries like theU.S. Consider the impact on attendance at the last WJ if the 20% limit
had been applied to the entire EU instead of to the UK. Geographicallyand population-wise, that would be the impact of applying it to the U.S.(I believe the limit for a non-host country is 10% of the total youth.)
2. Providing Home Hospitality - BSA WJ contingents have not participatedin home hospitality (hoho) since the 1987-8 WJ in Australia. However, forcontingent from many other countries, this is an expected part of the WJexperience. Organizing hoho stays in the US for the WJ internationalcontingents that would expect hoho, many of them coed, would be a majorchallenge. (It is a challenge for us at MIC with 250-300 internationalScouts, leaders, and staff. For a WJ, you would multiply those numbers byup to 100.)
3. Obtaining US visas for international contingents - There now 29countries for which US visas are not required. That number is growingvery slowly. (The leader of the Hungarian contingent to MIC bemoaned thefact that Hungary becomes a visa waiver country next year but they stillneed visas this year.) For someone coming to the US from a country thatis not a visa-waiver country, it costs the local equivalent of US $131 toapply for a US visa, with no guarantee of success. Each US Embassy willinterview every visa candidate with a focus on whether they have strongenough ties to their home country that they will return home after the WJand not stay in the US. From our MIC experience, supporting visaapplications is a major task. Some visa applications for past MICs havebeen rejected, and, without the support of the office of Michigan's USSenator Carl Levin, there would have been more.
4. The cost for international contingents to get to the US - Who knowswhat airfares will be in 2019, and, except for Canada, Mexico, and someCaribbean and Central American countries, the flight distance would besignificant.
A World Jamboree in the US in 2019 would be doable, but only if BSA startsto address those and other challenges now
from Bruce McCrea
Don Roberts added "It also fits with what Bob Mazzuca (I'm never going tofigure out how to spell that name) said to me personally at WSJ this summer. He is a very strong supporter of international scouting, and consideration of hosting a WSJ fits well. I asked him if the BSA would bewilling to consider hosting a WSJ again, and he said "we would considerit." I discounted that a bit, as he was, then, brand new to the job andhadn't yet had to face the reality of top level BSA poltics. I'm veryglad to hear that, and hope the rumor pans out. It has been a very longtime since 1967 and a lot has changed since then."
A WJ in the US would definitely be exciting. However, there are a numberof hurdles that would need to be overcome. The most obvious is the coednature of international Scouting. When BSA last hosted a WJ in 1967, WJ participation was limited to boys. The last all-boy WJ was in 1975 in Norway. WJs are definitely coed now.
Just a few specific hurdles I can think of immediately:
1. The 20% rule - Others can correct me if I am wrong, but it is myunderstanding that youth participation from the host country of a WJ islimited to 20% of the total youth in camp. If there are 30,000 youth incamp, a maximum of 6000 can come from the host country. That means BSAwould be limited to about 6000 Scouts and Venturers. To be able to haveeven that many participate, we would need to attract 24,000 youth fromother countries. In a way, this rule penalizes large countries like theU.S. Consider the impact on attendance at the last WJ if the 20% limit
had been applied to the entire EU instead of to the UK. Geographicallyand population-wise, that would be the impact of applying it to the U.S.(I believe the limit for a non-host country is 10% of the total youth.)
2. Providing Home Hospitality - BSA WJ contingents have not participatedin home hospitality (hoho) since the 1987-8 WJ in Australia. However, forcontingent from many other countries, this is an expected part of the WJexperience. Organizing hoho stays in the US for the WJ internationalcontingents that would expect hoho, many of them coed, would be a majorchallenge. (It is a challenge for us at MIC with 250-300 internationalScouts, leaders, and staff. For a WJ, you would multiply those numbers byup to 100.)
3. Obtaining US visas for international contingents - There now 29countries for which US visas are not required. That number is growingvery slowly. (The leader of the Hungarian contingent to MIC bemoaned thefact that Hungary becomes a visa waiver country next year but they stillneed visas this year.) For someone coming to the US from a country thatis not a visa-waiver country, it costs the local equivalent of US $131 toapply for a US visa, with no guarantee of success. Each US Embassy willinterview every visa candidate with a focus on whether they have strongenough ties to their home country that they will return home after the WJand not stay in the US. From our MIC experience, supporting visaapplications is a major task. Some visa applications for past MICs havebeen rejected, and, without the support of the office of Michigan's USSenator Carl Levin, there would have been more.
4. The cost for international contingents to get to the US - Who knowswhat airfares will be in 2019, and, except for Canada, Mexico, and someCaribbean and Central American countries, the flight distance would besignificant.
A World Jamboree in the US in 2019 would be doable, but only if BSA startsto address those and other challenges now
from Bruce McCrea
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