Introduction to Bear Trek

A team of 6 intrepid 6th Rugby Scouts took on a field of 42 groups to achieve 2nd place in this County Competition. Meanwhile a group of 4 Young Leaders from 6th Rugby ran the Dingbats activity base for the day.

Volunteers manned 20 activity bases along a circular waking course. The teams of Scouts faced challenges including: "Guess the Celebrity"; "Name 100 British Counties"; "Target Practise"; "Dingbats"; "Hook-a-Duck"; "Memory Games"; "Guttering Hats Challenge"; "Water Transport Challenge"; "Archery"; "First Aid"; and many more.

Points were awarded to each team at each base for entry, challenge completion / teamwork, and exit.

At the end of the hike all the groups gathered in a marquee for something to eat and to hear the results.

After the day-trekkers left, the over-nighters enjoyed playing Bingo and watching Monsters Inc.

A cooked breakfast in the morning finished off a fantastic event!

Feedback from 6th Rugby Scouts

We asked the team to tell us how they approached each base:

“We approached in single file and the team leader introduced us by telling the base team which group we were from, then asked to enter the base”. “Hello, we are 6th Rugby Scouts, may we enter your base?” This worked well for us.

During each activity one of the targets was working well as a team. The 6th Rugby scouts felt that they worked really well as a team, and this was reflected in their scoring. They mentioned that during their walks from one base to the next they would stay with each other and sang songs together to keep their spirits up.

To exit the camp in good order the team reported:

“We counted to make sure we were all together and asked the base leader if we could exit the base. When they said we could, we left and thanked the people at the base and wished them a good afternoon”. “Thank you for your activity, may we now leave your base?” (yes) “Have a great afternoon!”

We asked the 6th Rugby team if they stopped for lunch or a break, and how they travelled from one base to another. This is what they said:

“We walked together in a group, then in single file when we could see the next base. We always made sure to stick to the paths and not to stand on farmers crops when crossing fields. We didn’t stop for lunch as there was time while waiting for other groups to finish bases ahead of us. We also used that waiting time to eat our lunch”

The 6th Rugby team were one of the few teams to complete the whole course of 20 bases. We asked them how they think they accomplished this:

“We powered through and didn’t completely stop at all. We knew getting to all the bases was our best chance to get a good score! We think a lot of the other teams must have stopped for lunch or a rest.”

When asked if they could have improved anything, the 6th Rugby scouts reflected:

“We could lower our voices; we were quite loud as we walked around”.

Feedback from 6th Rugby Young Leaders

We asked the Young Leaders about their experience of running the challenge base for the day:

“It was fun and unusual. The questions stretched the Scouts and none of the teams got 100%, there was always one or two questions that they struggled with.”

“Some of the teams were much more polite that others and we had to tell a lot of them not to walk on the crops as they came across the field.”

“We were surprised when the scouts treated us with respect – like they treat the adult leaders.”

The Young Leaders observed that they enjoyed working in pairs best, and that teams who could gather around a table worked much better. When there wasn’t as much space for everyone to see, the teams found it more difficult to include everyone.

They all agreed they would definitely like to run the base again next year, but they would set up 2 tables so they could cope more easily when two groups arrived at the same time.

The Young Leaders were in charge of all scoring across the day and when asked about this they said:

“We think we were perhaps more stingy at the start of the day, but we paid attention to how each group arrived, how they worked together and interacted with us in the base and how they left. We think we were quite fair in all our scoring”.