We have all heard that being a scoutmaster or cubmaster will only take an hour a week. In the last article I wrote about how many hours it may actually take for a scoutmaster. But what if we take this further? If Scouting only takes one hour a week that means it will only consume 52 hours per year. But let’s be a bit more realistic. Instead of looking at hours, let us take a look at evenings and days per year. Here is an average year in my Scouting life:
Troop meetings – 33 evenings
Patrol Leader Council Meetings – 11 evenings
Committee Meetings – 11 evenings
Troop Parents Meeting – 1 evening
School Night To Join Scouting – 1 evening
Courts of Honor – 4 evenings
Roundtables – 8 evenings
Summer Camp – 7 days
Weekend Camps (average 6 per year) – 18 days
One Day Activities – 6 days
Yearly Planning Session – 1 day
Fundraisers (meals) – 2 days
Troop Service Projects (varies per year) – 4 days
Grand Total = 107 days/evenings!
This total surprised me. I did not realize that I give over three and one half months a year to the troop. And this does not count extra things like district or council training, evenings spent writing newsletters, working with boys on merit badges, or other such things. Wow.
I would like to hear from other scoutmasters out there. Does this sound similar to the time you dedicate to your troop?
OK let’s do the math….
52 Meetings Per Year (12 PLCs/40 Troop)
12 Committee Meetings
24 Campout Days
7 Summer camp Days
4 TLT Days
1 Planning Day
2 Court of Honor
2 Court of Honor Prep Nights
12 ROundtable nights
3 Service Project Days
2 University of Scouting (1 prep day/ 1 actual day)
16 Wood Badge Staff Days
Grand Total = 137 days/evenings minimum per year
Sounds about right! Add Wood Badge 18 month follow up as a Troop Guide, SM Prep, SMCs, MBU, misc service…ouch!
Here is my break down as an ASM June 2009-July 2010:
50 Troop Meetings
12 PLCs
12 Commitee Meetings
30 Campout days; counted as 3 days Friday through Sunday
7 Sumemrcamp days
3 Court of Honors
6 Service project days
10 Roundtables
130 Days or evenings total
Then add Pack Functions as a volunteer dad 🙂
12 Pack meetings
3 Den Meetings, mom usual takes him (troop meetings same night)
6 days for derby races, I am head of PWD committee
8 Service/clean up days
6 Commitee meetings
35 Days/evenings there
that is 165 days/evenings total! ALMOST half the year! NOT including at home planning and misc running and fundraisers!
Always worth the effort though, my boys and they others in thier units are worth all of teh time and effort.
We just had our National Jamboree Troop reunion pot luck. Many of my peer leaders and volunteers agreed that adding all the time up was a waste of time that could be used for another meeting/event!
All the best!
Bruce
I think the recruitment technique of 1-hour a week is more a myth than anything else. I have never actually met anyone who was recruited with that promise, nor have I ever met anyone who actually used that as a recruiting device. It’s more an in-house joke than anything else.
I would never accept an application fro someone without them thoroughly understanding the time commitment for the task they were agreeing to do. I not sure that someone who would believe that a scout leader is a 1-hou a week responsibility has the tools needed to be a leader.
As for the number of hours it takes, I long for the hours of a Scoutmaster’s position. As a Sea Scout Skipper I live 45 miles from our boats and our meeting location. We meet 48 hours a month, 12 months a year. And then there are committee meetings, Roundtable meetings, training, and misc. scout activities on top of that. I average over 800 miles and 12.5 hours just driving to and from scouting meetings each month.
Oh for the simple life of being a Scoutmaster 🙂
Troop meetings – 45 evenings
Patrol Leader Council Meetings – 12 evenings
Committee Meetings – 12 evenings
Troop Parents Meeting – 2 evening
School Night To Join Scouting – 5 evening (this includes all recruiting events)
Courts of Honor – 4 evenings
Roundtables – 8 evenings
Summer Camp – 7 days
Weekend Camps (average 11 per year) – 33 days or nights of camping
One Day Activities – 6 days
Yearly Planning Session – 2 days
Fundraisers – 2 days
Troop Service Projects (varies per year) – 6 days last year
Den Meeting and Pack meeting visits – 6 evenings
Grand Total = 150 days/evenings
and obviously this does not include at home work, PTCMedia stuff or Order of the Arrow events.
Yeah.. I have an hour a week left.
But I love it.
About 890 hours or 39 days depending on how one computes. But that’s only regular Troop activities sans Eagle Projects, Eagle Counseling, OA events, Tribe of the Lone Bear Events, Council events, Training time as student, Training time and prep time as Instructor. depending again on how one calculates this I could easily double the Days Scouting, Hours would probably nearly double also but either way these are the most conservative estimates – the real numbers will always be higher.
(Sorry for any typo’s I cannot read the comment box font.)
Question for those commenting, Have you put any thought into calculating (# boys x 1 hour per week)?
If there were, either I’m really inefficient, the number is based on a LARGE Troop for efficiency, or I just don’t have enough Scouts because my base number runs about 4.5 hours per Scout per week over a year up to about 9 hours per Scout per week over a year.