In 1969, I had the opportunity to join over 34,000 boys and leaders for the Boy Scouts of America’s 7th National Jamboree in Idaho. While at the Jamboree, I remember seeing a grainy picture on a small black and white portable TV of a fellow named Neil Armstrong take “One Giant Leap For Mankind”. My views of our space program may make up an entire NPR Note at some point in the future.
After the Jamboree, my dad and I flew to JFK airport and joined up with a group from the First United Methodist Church of New Port Richey going for a tour of the Holy Land. In one of the great “surprise” moments of my mom’s life, I walked up and asked her to hold my passport for a moment. She didn’t realize I was coming on the tour and it took her a bit to realize that I was talking to her and I was going on the trip. During our stay in Israel, my dad and I visited the 1969 Israeli National Jamboree. I’ve got a patch from it in my patch collection. What was notable about the Israeli Jamboree was that the troops were coed. The boys on one side of the troop campsite, the girls on the other side, and the troop leaders in between. This was when it started to dawn on my 15 year old brain that the scouting program in other countries wasn’t always two separate organizations for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
In 1969, the Boy Scouts of America began allowing girls to join Explorer Posts (for older teens) as associate members and as full members two years later. Venturing and other units for older scouts went coed in the decades that followed.
Fast forward a half century and the Boy Scouts of America finally opened the Cub Scout program to girls in 2018. It made sense the girls to be allowed in as it made family logistics easier for Den Mothers (aka Den Leaders) to be able to have their little girls tag along to den meetings with their Cub Scout brothers. This created a bit of an issue: What to do with girls who aged out of the Cub Scout program. The solution was to authorize all girl BSA troops in 2019 and In recognition of the changing youth membership, the Boy Scouts of America rebranded itself “Scouting BSA” and most recently to “Scouting America”.
In Pasco County, all but one of the Cub Scout packs accept both boys and girls. There are several “family” troops that accept both boys and girls, including Troop 86 in Hudson. These units were formally authorized by Scouting America in December of 2025.
In Pasco County, we had three all Girl Troops registered as of July. One of the troops is in Dade City and another in Land O’ Lakes. For the last four years, Troop 7, meeting at the Presbyterian Church of Seven Springs, has been serving girls in West Pasco. The number of all girl units went up by one this past week with the chartering of Troop 15, meeting at the First United Methodist Church of New Port Richey.
To summarize, parents now have a choice of what type scout troop they want for their kids: Boys only, girls only, or both boys and girls in the same troop.
I’ll editorialize a bit now. My views are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of any other individual, Scouting America, The Greater Tampa Bay Area Council, or any unit sponsor.
I believe Cubs, Explorers, Venturing Crews and Ships are all fine with both boys and girls participating. Cubs are too young to care and Explorers, Venturing and Ships cater to youth who are well on their way to figuring out who they are. Scout troops serve youth going through puberty, with all the baggage each of us had to deal with when we were that age. Boys only troops let boys be boys without having to deal with girls and girls only troops let girls be girls without the distraction of boys. Family troops attempt to serve both boys and girls, much like a traditional church youth group does. Needless to say, there is a heightened supervision requirement for family troops to keep the boys and girls from checking out each other on outings. I know that CAN work, but I’m personally more comfortable with separate boy and girl troops. My grandson is in a boys only troop and my granddaughters are in a girls only troop.
Why not have the girls join the Girl Scouts like we did when our daughter was a kid? The Girl Scouts have historically had a program worth considering. The Boy Scout program has historically been more active than the Girl Scout program. Girls hear about their brothers going white water rafting, rappelling, backpacking, sailing and all the other adventures Scouting America offers and, not surprisingly, girls want to enjoy those same type adventures. My grandson went with his troop to the Florida Caverns State Park last year. My granddaughters went with their troop earlier this year. I went as a leader both times. Even with separate troops, sometimes they do the same things at the same time. I went as an assistant scoutmaster with my granddaughters’ troop to summer camp last year. My grandson’s troop was at the same camp. I saw him occasionally and made sure he was having a good time at camp.
What about adult leadership? All units must have two deep leadership at all times and units with girls MUST have one or more female adult leaders on any outings. Moms have participated in Boy Scout troop adult leadership roles for decades. Proper training for ALL adults is a must. I am currently a trained leader in my primary position as a unit commissioner, plus I am trained as an assistant scoutmaster, committee chairman, and as a merit badge counselor.
The most important training is Youth Protection Training, now renamed “Safeguarding Youth Training”. It is REQUIRED for all adult leaders. The course covers abuse recognition, prevention strategies, and mandatory reporting requirements. Every registered adult leader in Scouting America is a mandatory reporter. (In Florida, EVERYONE is a mandatory reporter.) You don’t need to be a scout volunteer leader to take the course. You can go to https://my.scouting.org and create a free account and take the course for free. Just be forewarned: If you suffered abuse as a child or know a child that has been abused, the training can be intense.