One of the most popular day camp activities is the Cub Scout shooting sports program. Find out the awards requirements and safety rules.
Because the BB gun and Archery belt loops and pins are no longer available, Cub Scouts needed a new way to be recognized for this shooting sports achievements.
You can find a detailed guide for shooting sports by clicking here.
While the program is brand new, a couple of things haven't changed.
- Shooting sports are only allowed at district or council events. This means you can't have shooting sports at a pack campout.
- Shooting sports must be under the direction of a qualified leadership–a trained range officer.
Here's how it works. Cub Scouts can qualify for the award in archery, BB guns and slingshots.
Scouts will start by picking a discipline and completing the Level 1 requirements for that discipline. Level 1 requirements are different for each discipline, but they are the same for each rank.
For example, the Level 1 requirements for BB guns are the same for Tigers, Bears, Wolves and Webelos. There is a different set of Level 1 requirements for archery, and a different set for slingshots.
These sets of requirements are the same for all the ranks, so regardless of rank. everyone will have the same Level 1 requirements within the discipline.
The requirements for Level 1 are teaching the Cubs safety while they learn about the equipment for that disciple. Upon completion of Level 1 in any discipline, Scouts will receive a shooting sports patch for their rank. You can see these in the image above.
The patches are considered temporary patches and will need to be worn on the right pocket of the Cub Scout's uniform.
Next, the Scouts will work on the Level 2 requirements for the same discipline as their patch.
For example, Grant can't complete Level 1 requirements to get his patch in archery and then work on Level 2 requirements to earn his BB pin. Instead, he must complete the archery Level 2 requirements.
Level 2 requirements are rank specific, so Tigers will have different requirements than Bears or Webelos.
After the Scouts have earned their patch and first pin, they may choose to earn the award for a second discipline.
For example, Grant has earned the award for archery and wants to earn the BB gun award.
Since he already has a rank specific badge, he will not earn another badge. Instead, he will receive the pin for that discipline after he completes Level 1 requirements and Level 2 requirements. The pin can be added to the rank specific patch.
If a Scout wants to earn the award in the third discipline, the process is the same as the second discipline.
When a Cub Scout moves up to the next rank, their shooting sports awards “reset.” They will begin again with the Level 1 requirements for the discipline of his choice. This will help ensure that our children remember what they have learned.
After the Level 1 requirements have been completed, the Scout is awarded the shooting sports badge for their rank, and they then can work on the pin for that discipline.
The file are available on the Scouting website, but I'm posting them here to make it easy for you. Just click on the links to download the files.
Cub Scout Shooting Sports Awards Requirements 2016
FAQs for New Shooting Sports Awards
Shooting Sports Tracking Template
I would love to hear what you think about the new awards, so leave a comment below.
Yours in Scouting,
Sherry
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Monica Cruz
Wednesday 14th of April 2021
Hi. This is awesome information thank you. One question, do I print the requirement for each Scout and then send it to our council for approval? Or do I just purchase their award?
Tina Fisher
Tuesday 24th of October 2017
Are the lions den allowed to participate in the BB discipline? I am writing my Wood Badge ticket on reinstating BB shooting into our spring camporee (I may have gotten in over my head on this one). Anyway i have all the manuals and information, but they do not include Lion Dens.
Our council does not even have BB riffles anymore since they were bent and out of commission.
Any advice and recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Linda
Sunday 30th of July 2017
The main question I have is - if a boy earns the patch by earning level 1 slingshot, then later earns level 12 in archery, how is he recognized for the archery? I feel that there should be some sort of indication of what medium and every medium he participated in. When he earns level 2 that same year, then he should be able to get a 2nd pin for that sport to indicate he did level 2. I don't know how to recognize the archery level 1, but reading how the program works, he won't get anything for archery until he earns level 2.
Sherry Smothermon-Short
Monday 31st of July 2017
I'm not an expert, but I think you're right. If a boy has earned the patch for his rank by completing level 1 in one sport, he wouldn't earn a recognition device for level 1 in a second sport. He would earn the pin when he completes both levels 1 and 2 in that second sport.
Since level 1 is safety information, I would think of it more as he needs to learn about safety for the second sport before he is eligible to earn the pin. Most of the time, he will go directly from the safety session to shooting, so he probably won't even think about the fact that he's actually completing two sections.
Hope this makes sense.
Karen
Monday 24th of July 2017
Where can we order the patches and pins?
Sherry Smothermon-Short
Monday 31st of July 2017
You can get them from your local council.
Lisa B Flinders
Wednesday 12th of July 2017
I find this whole thing extremely confusing and had to reread the article six times before I thought I might understand what you were trying to communicate. I also find the temporary patches to be expensive. I went to the scout office in Orem, Utah to ask questions about this new program and no one in the store or upstairs in council services seem to know anything about it. My boys just returned from day camp and I did not recognize them for this award in Pack meeting. I am going to meet with my cub committee members and see if they feel that purchasing the patch is worth the money being asked for a temporary patch. It does not make sense to me that it costs more money for a temporary patch then it does for a rank advancement patch. What was meant to be fun easy and educational has now become complicated and overpriced. A simple little pin or belt loop for all levels with a different background color for each rank makes more sense to me.