Orienteering & Scouts

by Terradan Landchild, former CROC Youth/Scouting Coordinator

Orienteering Meets are FUN activities for Boy Scout and Girl Scout units (as well as any other youth organization)! Scouts love the freedom to choose their own route between control points. Unit leaders enjoy having the experts of an USOF-chartered O Club teach the Beginner Clinics, set up the courses and administer the meets.

Orienteering, the sport of land navigation, develops the skills of route-finding, the very definition of the word "scout". Traditional pacing-on-a-compass bearing is completely useless for finding your way in the wilderness (although a neccesary skill for map-making). The sport of Orienteering develops not only map-reading skills, but also judgement and strategy. Perhaps most important, it is FUN while surveying (pacing a compass bearing) is as boring as geometry class.

It is strongly recommended that you send your Scouts out on an O course in very small groups--teams of two or solo being best. If an adult participates with the Scouts, by all means let a Scout hold the map and make the route choices. Otherwise, the Scouts simply follow the leader and gain nothing from the experience except a nice hike.

The BSA First Class Orienteering Requirement is best earned by individual Scouts completing an advanced Beginner (Yellow) Course. The Scout may be accompanied for safety, but must be completely unassisted. Any Eagle Scout worth his medal should be able to complete an Intermediate (Orange) Course solo!

The BSA Orienteering Merit Badge should be earned by working with a chartered Orienteering Club. BSA National and Cascade Pacific Council have not provided appropriate standards nor training in implementing the new Orienteering requirements.

[ Terradan writes: "Hey, don't get me wrong--I love Scouting! With 19 years in the BSA as an Eagle Scout, Scoutmaster, OA Advisor and Council-level Trainer, I'm simply disappointed in National's lack of standards and guidance."]

The United States Orienteering Federation (USOF) charters local Orienteering Clubs such as CROC who design Courses and detailed maps to national and international standards. This work is extremely time-consuming, detailed and exacting. Take advantage of our expertise and simply bring your Scouts to any local meet!!!

The Columbia River Orienteering Club holds a special event just for youth groups: the Annual CROC Scout-O. BSA and GSUSA Troops are specifically invited to compete for cool medals! At our 2007 Scout-O, over 500 Scouts and leaders participated! For more information about the Annual CROC Scout-O, contact our club Scouting coordinator.

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