Girls-only Scouts BSA troop ready for sign-ups

Local girls now have the opportunity to join Scouts BSA, the scouting program formerly known as Boy Scouts.

Sign-ups for a girls-only troop, sponsored by Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau, will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Central Junior High School cafeteria.

Ashley Metelski, district executive for the Boy Scouts of America, said this is the first time in Cape Girardeau girls have been able to join Scouts BSA with the closest girls troop located in Sikeston, Missouri. Girls have been able to join Cub Scouts for about a year, she said, but it was in February when girls first became able to join Scouts BSA.

At least five girls and five adults are needed to form the Cape Girardeau troop, she said.

Rhett Hendrickson of Cape Girardeau has been involved in scouting since he was 8 years old. Now he has a daughter who wants to join Scouts BSA.

He was excited about the opportunity when he heard “what we typically consider Boy Scouting activities” would be available to girls, he said. His daughter was also excited about doing the same activities.

“Several of us got together and said, ‘Hey. Let’s do this,’” he said about getting the troop started.

“The youth elect their own leaders and the adults provide the kind of guidance and training that those youth leaders need to succeed and fail and learn from their mistakes and be better at it so that they can be better citizens,” Hendrickson said.

Tony Smee, the chartered organization representative for Grace United Methodist Church, said the church has sponsored scouts for 91 years.

The Eagle Scout has been registered with the program for more than 35 years and spoke of the advancement and leadership opportunities associated with scouting.

“It’s more than just earning badges and ranks. Each one of those is the culmination of the efforts of the scout and they involve a lot of different aspects,” Smee said.

Metelski noted the organization name of Boys Scouts of America has not changed, but rather the scouting program’s name has changed to Scouts BSA.

“Under the new name of ‘Scouts BSA,’ that program, which is the same iconic program it has always been, will continue to offer Scouting in single-gender troops, through which Scouts — ages 11 through 17 — can work to earn the Eagle Scout rank,” according to www.scoutingwire.org.

“My role has been to go out and talk to the youth in the community. Get them excited about joining the Scouts BSA troop,” Metelski said.

She said the new group is girls only, but there can be male leadership. But she added the troop must have a female leader present at all times.

Metelski said those interested in signing up at Thursday’s event must be in fifth grade and above or 10-and-a-half years old or older. A parent must also be present. There is a registration fee of $27.50 for March through the remainder of 2019.

Metelski said there will be opportunities for girls and boys to join a troop at the sign-up event. Children from anywhere are welcome to join and sign-ups can happen at any time throughout the year, she said.

“I just want to be able to give kids the opportunity, that are in our area, to be able to experience anything new for them. Whether that is riding a horse for the first time or canoeing down a river for the first time,” Metelski said.

For more information, call the Cape Girardeau office of Boy Scouts of America at (573) 335-3346.

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