Our unit had two boys attend the Varsity On Belay training this summer. Since we’ve never had anyone attended this before, we thought it’d be nice to recongize their accomplishment at our next Court of Honor. Problem is, council doesn’t have anything to award them with – no patch, no beads, no nuthin’. So… with a little help from Google, I put together the perfect thing!
Since “On Belay” involves climbing and rapelling, I found a miniature Figure-8 device, added a carabiner of similar size, tied a 2′ strand of paracord to it and voilà… a one-of-a-kind Varsity Scout On Belay Award!! The scout can use it as a keychain, hook it on his backpack or attach it anywhere that will remind him of his Varsity experience.
Here’s how you can find the parts to put this together:
Mini Figure-8 device: http://store.training-wheels.com/fi8ke.html
Mini Carabiner (4mm by Coghlan’s): local sporting goods or outdoors store
450# Paracord (or any piece of rope): local hardware or outdoors store
As you can see from the picture, I used orange paracord to coincide with the official Varsity Scout color (going by the color of their shoulder loops). The quarter is included only to show relative size of this award.
NOTE: In case you’re wondering what Varsity On Belay is, it’s an exciting week of high adventure program training and fun! Program skills are taught and applied in the setting of Varsity Scout activities. Youth are instructed in how to utilize the resources and tools available to scouts their age. On Belay is not a youth leadership development course like National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT).
