"The training of the Boy Scouts is done mainly by means of games, practices
and competitions such as interest them, and at the same time bring into use the
attributes of manliness and good citizenship which we desire to inculcate into
them." Scouting
Games
"Wide Game" is a term that has come into use in Scouting in comparatively
recent years. The term indicates various types of games which are played by any
number exceeding one Patrol over a sufficiently wide area of ground or even of
water for that matter. Such games can be of a fairly simple nature, such as an
easy trail or treasure hunt, or of a somewhat complicated nature, involving a
good deal of previous preparation and large numbers of Scouts from different
Troops.
Camp games are played within a confined area and can include such games as
rounders, hockey, hand ball, "Bang the Bear," and so on. Wide Games
are those which take place beyond the confines of camp in the surrounding
country, or in the country round about one's village or town.
In the early days of Scouting such games were more commonly known as Field
Days, a term which has a military significance but which still indicates the idea of the game very
well--a day spent in the fields. These field days were highly popular and made
for thoroughly good Scouting out-of-doors, but somehow or other--possibly owing to
the restrictions imposed during the Great War--they fell into disuse. In most
Continental countries, however, such field days continue to be popular,
especially in Denmark where they are indulged in with such vehemence that they
undoubtedly bring out the attributes of manliness.
Within the last six or seven years there has been a revival in many Troops--town and
country--of this form of outdoor Scouting following on the
general desire to get back to the game of Scouting as originally conceived and
to make more use of Scouting for Boys as the source of information and
inspiration in regard to Scout activities [see Traditional
Scouting].
In the original edition of Scouting for Boys appear such wide games as "Scout meets Scout," "Dispatch Runners," and "Lion Hunting" which were all highly popular.
Aids to Scouting, written by B.P. shortly
before the South African War and used to train boys as well as soldiers before
he wrote Scouting for Boys, contained the game called "Flag Raiding"
(or "Capture the Flag") which appears in later editions of Scouting for Boys and has proved itself, in
various forms, probably the most popular Wide Game of them all.
Scouting Games, another of the Chief's books, was first published in
1910 and
contains practically all the games to be found in Scouting for Boys (in order
that they should be available in a more handy form) and many others. This book
starts with a chapter on "Scouting Games," of which "Flag
Raiding" (or "Capture the Flag") appears first. It also contains chapters on "
Stalking Games," "Tracking
Games," "Cyclists' Games,"
"Town Games," "Night Games,"
"Winter Games," and "Seamanship
Games," all of which deal
with games out-of-doors and mostly over a wide area.
That is sufficient to show the methods originally adopted for securing the
practice of Scouting, and it is good to realize that these early methods have
stood the test of years, and are being approved today as wise and valuable.
Why are Wide Games valuable in our Scouting?
The answer is threefold,
(1) they appeal to Scouts; (2) they give practice in Scouting; and (3) they assist in the training of
character. These are the three ingredients necessary to good Scouting.
(1) APPEAL. The average boy likes to get out into the open air, to roam
about, to play something strenuous, to enjoy something of adventure and romance.
Wide Games most obviously take him out into the open and enable him to roam
about. They entail a good deal of exercise even in walking and running, climbing
and stalking, apart from the chances of some modified form of a scrap in
wrestling against an opponent for his life and freedom. The amount of adventure
and romance supplied to him through Wide Games depends somewhat in the way in
which they are set out for him. The desire for his side to win, the difficulties
of following the trail or of spotting his objective, the uncertainty. of
escaping detection, these all convey the zest of adventure.
But more still can
be done if the actual details of, the game are embroidered by the addition of a story historical
or otherwise--which gives his activities the cloak of still more
adventure and romance. We all like playing a part, we all like to see ourselves
as someone else. A certain amount of excitement and desire to win is aroused when Troop A competes against Troop B in a game, but the
atmosphere is surcharged with added excitement when the A Smugglers are trying
to take their cargo through the cordon spread by the B Preventive men.
In Wide Games a Scout does assuredly find an outlet for his youthful energy and his fertile imagination.
(2) SCOUTING. "By the term 'Scouting' is meant the work and attributes
of backwoodsmen, explorers, and frontiersmen." Wide Games enable the
Scoutmaster to bring both the work and the attributes into practice. All those
Yarns in Scouting for Boys on Campaigning, Tracking, and Woodcraft can be utilized
and followed up through Wide Games. Practice can be given in almost any
outdoor Scouting activity save Pioneering, and even that could be incorporated
given the time and a Wide Game extending, say, over a week-end!
The Scout activities most commonly followed up in this way are Pathfinding,
including Map-reading, Observation, Stalking, and Tracking. All kinds of
subsidiary activities also come into the picture, such as camouflage,
concealment, and disguises. In the next chapter more will be said in regard to
training and practice in these and other activities. There is no need to develop
the value of Wide Games from the point of view of training in Scouting, further
at the moment.
(3) CHARACTER TRAINING. Here again it is difficult to summarize the value of
Wide Games, since almost any quality of human character can be developed by means of them. Organizing ability is required beforehand in order that the game
be planned and understood by those taking part in it. This will develop the
Scouter's character, but he must not be selfish; in order to get full value,
Patrol Leaders and others should be associated in the planning of any game.
The story, and the motive that lies behind the story,
have to be understood and appreciated by all taking part if the game is to be a
real success. Rules have to be learned and obeyed, even in the midst of
considerable activity and excitement, and so self-control and fair play are
developed. Obedience and discipline are integral parts of any team game, and
become all the more necessary when the players are separated from, and out of
sight of, each other. Team work and Patrol effort are thereby helped and
strengthened. The fact that Scouts will mostly be working in pairs tends to
develop initiative and self-confidence. The feeling of independence out in the
open that is engendered will make for what might be described as manliness.
Habits of observation and qualities of deduction are all developed. Patience and
pluck both play their part: the former in stalking quietly, in lying hid, in
waiting for the right time to attack; the latter when contact is made with the
other side and some form of rough and tumble may ensue. Rules of capture need
careful working out, and more will be said of them later, but they should not be
such as to eliminate all possibilities of a struggle of some kind with its
obvious value in promoting strength and grit--not to mention fun, so far as the
Scouts themselves are concerned.
It is easy to see that this form of Scouting can help to bring into use the
attributes of manliness and good citizenship. One of the most important factors
in the success of a Wide Game of almost any kind is the team work and
co-operation that must subsist among the members of any one side.
When can Wide Games be brought into our Scouting?
The answer to this question depends on inclination and on circumstances. A
certain amount of night work can be done at all seasons of the year by both town
and country Troops; inclination, initiative, and ingenuity are the sole governing
factors. The element of time may handicap a town Troop as against a country
Troop when it comes to the question of Saturday afternoons or other half-days.
The expense of transport is another handicap. But the question remains whether
we encourage our Scouts these days to make sufficient use of their legs and of
their bicycles. Half-days should be utilized wherever possible, and the
possibility becomes all the greater when a real outdoor Scouting attitude and
atmosphere has been secured in a Troop.
Camp affords another opportunity for the playing of Wide Games. It is fair to
say that every Scoutmaster can and should devote at least one day of the Troop's
summer camp to a game of this nature. If the excuse is offered that the
surroundings of the camp preclude such an activity, that excuse cannot be
accepted. It is obvious, if that is the case, that the site for the camp is not
a suitable site for a Scout camp, however suitable it might appear to be from
other points of view. A few hours' night work in camp might also be considered,
starting very small and working up to something really exciting. It is possible,
too, to include a short Wide Game in the program of a weekend camp from time
to time.
Mention might be made of Rover
Scouts. Wide Games hold quite as much value
and appeal to them; that has been proved by Scouters on Wood Badge Training
Courses. A Crew has the same opportunities as a Troop to seize hold of, but for
Rover Scouts the Wide Game which embraces a number of Crews will probably be the
more common form.
Wide Games on a District or Association basis--for Scouts or Rover Scouts----can
only be infrequent. In some Districts they are annual affairs and occupy a whole
day. They need very careful working out and must be kept, on comparatively
simple lines lest a Patrol or Troop fail to grasp instructions and are out of it
all the time.
Such Wide Games are real Field Days and require a mass of previous
preparation and orders.
There is the possibility, however, of two or three neighboring Troops or neighboring
Crews getting together for the playing of Wide Games on a more
spontaneous basis. A village Troop can challenge another village Troop, possibly
specifying the general type of game to be played. The same can be done by town
Troops, but there is the added value for village Troops in bringing the Scouts
of different villages together and so widening their outlook and giving them
some glimpse of Scouting outside their own village. Weekly half-holidays or
weekends can be utilized in this way.
There is still need in many parts of this country and of the world for the
Game of Scouting to be made more wide.
So let us consider Wide Games.
Training
Wide Games!
