Stradbroke Cup

History

The Stradbroke “Challenge” Cup was offered to the Association by His Excellency, The Earl of Stradbroke, after he was farewelled, by a march-past of Scouts at the end of his term of office of Governor of Victoria in 1926.

The Cup was first competed for a Gilwell Park in 1933 when it was awarded for certain specific sections of the Cohen Shield which, at the time, was a combined camping and scoutcraft competition.

These specific activities were Ambulance, Pioneering, Signalling and Mapping/Hiking.

In 1937 the Stradbroke Cup was awarded for the ‘camping’ part of the Cohen Shield competition only, and it eventually became a separate camping award.

Until 1967 the competition was held at Gilwell Park each year, but since then Troops camping at other approved venues have also taken part.

In 1971 the competition was further extended in country areas and was held in eight different locations.

Until 1952 a straight out points system was used to select the winning troop, but after that year an ‘achievement of standard’ system was used, and troops whose camping was assessed as “A” grade became Co-holders of the Cup each year.

In 1974 it was decided to place as much emphasis as possible on the Patrol aspect of camping and to award pennants to patrols for “A”, “B”, and “C” grade standards, instead of to Troops. For a Troop to become a Co-holder of the Cup, each of its patrols (and Troop H.Q.) had to achieve the “A” grade camping standard.

In 1976 the patrol camping standards were changed, in name, from “A”, “B”, and “C” to Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

In 2013 at the State Youth Forum, Scouts raised issue with the then graded assessment of Stradbroke Cup that lacked consistency and fairness across venues in the State and even differences in Assessor’s interpretation and application within a single venue.

State Scout Council developed a new approach, a competency-based assessment against a checklist with simple yes or no outcomes, clear and unambiguous. The new approach was trialled at all Stradbroke venues in 2014 and received enthusiastic and unanimous acceptance by Scouts and most Leaders. In 2015, after some minor tweaking, this new approach was adopted as the Victorian Scout Camping Standard Assessment Sheet. Assessors have been re-named “Advisers” and they have been empowered to ‘assist’ and ‘guide’ Patrol Leaders to achieve their best outcome.

The Cup itself is held at Headquarters and is made available to “Co-holder” Patrols for display purposes when required, during the year.