1st Epping Rover Crew - About Rovers

NSW Rovers
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A One Stop Guide To Becoming A Rover (194 KB)

What the hell is a Rover?
What is a Rover Crew?
Organisation of a Rover Crew
The traditional Rover Crew
Brief history of Rovering
Region / Branch / National Rover Councils
Service
Special Activities (Moots, RoVenture, Bootings)
Award Scheme (Baden-Powell Scout Award, Rover Wood Badge)
Too young or old?
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ROVER: n. ~ a male or female homo sapien sapien between the age of 17 and 26, dedicated to fun and adventure while serving the community in the Scouting way.

A group of Rovers of course! Rovers are people who meet regularly and participate in a wide range of challenging and interesting activities, such as rock climbing, white-water kayaking, car touring, and bush dancing, whilst learning new skills and making many friends. You can become a Rover when you turn 17 and you can stay for up to nine years. When you turn 26 you get "booted" from you Rover Crew. Your Crew could be as small as 5 or as large as 50 Rovers. All Crews are different and not all Crews may suit your needs. You are not obliged to join your local Crew. If there are other Crews nearby, look around before you decide which Crew is best for you.

Rover Crews are self-governing. Each Crew elects a team of office bearers to handle its management and day-to-day operation. After undertaking the necessary leadership training, one day you could be elected as the Crew Leader, giving you responsibility for the Crew and gaining you a Certificate of Adult Leadership.

1st Epping is a Traditional Rover Crew.
Just like a Cub Pack's structure is based on the Jungle Book, a Traditional Rover Crew is centred around the stories of the Knights of the Round Table. The theme is used in the training of Rovers to take their place in the Crew and in society. Although this idea may seem outdated, the majority of Crews choose to run this way. There are two stages of investiture in Traditional Crews - when you first join you become a Rover Squire, which is a training period before you can become a fully invested Rover, sometimes referred to as a Rover Knight. Once you become a fully invested Rover you are truly a member of the Crew, and become more involved in its running.

Unofficially, Rovering first came to Australia in 1910, in the form of Senior Scouts with the Marrickville Troop in Sydney. Officially, Baden-Powell introduced what he called Senior Scouts in Britain in early 1918. The name of the section was changed to Rover Scouts later in that same year. In Australia, the first large gathering of Rovers, known as a Rover Moot, took place in Victoria in 1927.
Rovers changed dramatically in the 1970s when they became increasingly self-governing and admitted females into the Movement. Australian membership grew rapidly. In 1980, the 8th Australian National Rover Moot was held in Queensland, and was the first National Moot to be run entirely by Rovers. Australian Rovers later took a leading role in the reintroduction of World Moots, and this resulted in the successful running of the 8th World Moot, held in Victoria in 1990/91. Today there are around 3,500 Rovers across all states of Australia.

(abbreviated to R.R.C.) is where representatives from every Crew in that Region attend a meeting to exchange ideas, promote events, plan training and public relations activities, and make recommendations to the Branch Rover Council. The R.R.C. also ensures good communication by maintaining a directory of all the Crews in the Region, and is responsible for encouraging the development of new Crews.
(B.R.C.) is where representatives from the Region Rover Councils meet to organise the section on a state-wide basis, and co-ordinate large scale Rover activities such as Moots and overseas service projects. The B.R.C. also organises the provision of such valuable items such as Rover car stickers, T-shirts and other promotional material. The NSW B.R.C. maintains a website which provides a wealth of information about what Rovers in NSW and around the world are up to.
(N.R.C.) functions in a similar way to the Branch Rover Council but is obviously at an Australia-wide level. The ability for the National Council to meet regularly is clearly difficult. Its role is to review and plan the development of Rovering in Australia as a whole, as well as to interact with other sections of Scouting and the community.

The other sections of the Movement have "Be Prepared" as their motto. Rovers, however, have their own motto, which is simply "Service". Your Rover Crew will endeavour to complete a number of service projects while you are a Rover. These may be in the form of either service to Scouting, or service to the wider community.
As a Rover, you may choose to help with a Cub Pack or perhaps you will build a bridge at the local Scout camp. Possible community service activities that your Crew might undertake include giving blood, meals on wheels, planting trees, taking disabled people out for a day, bush regeneration, Clean Up Australia Day, running camps for disadvantaged or sick children, or cleaning local monuments.
As a Rover, you will develop a natural talent to find ways of making some of the initially most uninteresting activities fun and rewarding. Don't worry, Service is certainly not a chore. It is a reminder that as a Rover you are part of the Scout Association and a member of something more than just an outdoors club.

- When Rover Crews get together for a weekend of crazy and unusual activities, it is called a Moot. You can meet many other Rovers from all around the country and the world. There are many varieties of Moots, ranging from local to World Moots. Region and Branch Moots are often organised around a theme, and last for a weekend. National and World Moots are run similarly to Ventures and last for about 10 days.
- As a Venturer you will be able to attend one of these fabulous camps where you can. The RoVenture is like a Region or Branch Rover Moot except that Venturers are invited to come along. This is a great way for you to find out what Rovers are like, experience one type of Rover activity, and meet a lot of other Crews other than your local one.
- When a Rover reaches the age of 26 it is time to move on to being an old fart! The official term for the occasion when you leave Rovers is a Booting. A Booting is usually a farewell party, barbecue or dinner where the Rover Crew wishes you well in life and sends you on your way. Sometimes they are held at Branch or National activities where many Rovers are present.

- This is an optional award that some Rovers choose to undertake. It is an individual challenge, where you set your own goals, but have them approved by the Crew before you start. Rovers are challenged to reach the highest standard of which they are personally capable in four development areas, namely physical, intellectual and emotional, social and spiritual. It generally takes at least two years of work to complete the award.
- Once the basic and advanced Rover leadership training has been completed (including project), a Rover is awarded the Rover Wood Badge. The Scouts Association of Australia is a Registered Training Provider under the Vocational Education and Training Sector (The 'VET Sector') which is managed by the Commonwealth and State Governments, the advanced training leads to a Certificate IV in Leadership Support and a Certificate IV in Business (Frontline Management). Not only that, all Wood Badge recipients become members of the 1st Gilwell Scout Group in England, which entitle them to wear the Gilwell Tartan scarf at special times.

Taken from "A one-stop guide to becoming a Rover".

Too young or old to join the fun of Rovering? Not to worry! There are other sections of Scouting for you, please visit this link for more information. Start your adventure today!

If you are would like to know more or are interested in joining, please contact the Crew by clicking here. Start your adventure today!

www.eppingrovers.com is the official 1st Epping Rover Crew web site.

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