BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A new Scouting troop for girls has been organized at the Church on the Green. According to Scoutmaster Thomas Szybist, the traditional Boy Scouts of America organization changed its name in February to Scouts BSA to allow for the creation of troops for girls. This expansion was done, he said, to reach more youth and to make traditional Scouting programs more family oriented.
But Szybist is quick to point out two distinctions about these new troops for girls under the Scouts BSA umbrella: They are not coed, and the girls in Scouts BSA troops do not sell cookies. The Girl Scouts who annually sell cookies belong to an entirely different organization, Girl Scouts USA.
“Under no terms is this a Girl Scouts program,” he said. “And Scouts BSA is not a coed program. That’s a big distinction. There are girls units and there are boys units.”
Szybist is a stickler for clear distinction and rightly so: He is the vice-president of membership in the N.J. Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
“The response has been terrific,” he said about the Scouts BSA girl troops. “This is part of a larger Boy Scouts of America concept. We wanted to make everyone welcomed; that we have a place for everyone in your family.”
The boys and girls in Scouts BSA troops are 11 to 17 years old. As they go through the program, Szybist said the organization has everything a family would need.
At the Church on the Green, there are five girls in the troop, the minimum number to be chartered. The troop, designated No. 2, was allowed to organize before the fifth girl joined because Szybist had presented a plan for growth to the district administration that was approved. All the girls in Troop No. 2 are in high school; four are from Bloomfield and one is from Glen Ridge. Five girls is just the beginning, Szybist said.
“A mother started this unit because her son was in the Cub Scouts and she had an older daughter,” he said. “We see that a lot, girls are coming from families with brothers in the program.”
Bloomfield is in the Lenape Trail District of Scouts BSA, Szybist said, and in the organization, no new troop can be designated No. 1. That distinction belongs to the very first Boy Scout troop.
Girls joining a Scouts USA troop can expect camping trips, team building leadership training, which Szybist said is a “huge” part of the program, and civic-related activities.
In Bloomfield, the girls meet twice a month, on Monday evenings, from 6:30 to 7:30, at the Church on the Green. The Klondike Derby, an upcoming Lenape Trail District event, is planned for February in South Mountain Reservation. Girls will be challenged to build fires, tie knots, build shelters and more. And although boy troops will attend the derby, the activity is not a competition.
“The girls have to make a snow sled and pull it in the snow,” Szybist said. “The sled holds the gear.”
With only five girls in Troop No. 2, more girls are needed, as well as adult leaders. At any Scouts BSA event, he said two trained leaders were required.
“We are always looking for trained leaders,” Szybist said. “It’s a requirement that there must be female leadership in the girls program. We provide the training. I would like to see two men and two women in case there is a medical emergency,” he added.
Right now, Troop No. 2 has three trained leaders, Szybist and two women. And some girls, he said, belong to both Scouts BSA and Girl Scouts USA.
“But we’re the only Scouts BSA troop for girls in Bloomfield,” he said.
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