Campcraft Competition 2016
Our cadets got the opportunity to participate in the biennial Campcraft Competition (2016). Below, the competitors reflect on their experience throughout the event and trainings.
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Through this campcraft competition, we were able to improve our campcraft skills and bond as a whole with the sec 4s. Even though we were unable to complete everything required within 12 mins during practice, we persevered on and were able to complete mostly everything within 12 mins during the competition. Although some things did not really go as planned and mistakes were made, we were all thankful for this opportunity to go for this competition. Through the many campcraft practices, we became aware of our strength and weaknesses in campcraft. We have also learnt that we should try our best for everything we do and should always aim for high targets so that we could do better everytime. Also, campcraft competition emphasises to us that teamwork and communication are very important and everyone plays an important part for doing well in the competition. Hence, we definitely learnt to work better with one another and helping one another out.
Another thing we learnt was how important time was. No one on Earth can rewind time, so time is indeed very important. Without a sense of urgency and tracking the time well, we definitely would not have completed the flagstaff, tent and gadget in time. We did not have many trainings for Campcraft, so perhaps we did not practise hard enough during trainings. Although we completed most of the pitching in time, we felt like we could have done better if we worked harder and had a better sense of urgency. Time flew by so quickly and we have become Secondary 3s already in just a blink of an eye, so we learnt that time is very precious to us and we should cherish our trainings.
Campcraft competition taught us that planning out manpower is very important as we only have 9 participants and we have multiple things to do. No one can pitch a tent by herself, just like how no one can erect a flagstaff by themselves too. This means that teamwork is very important. Even though it requires time and effort to design the gadget, but with teamwork, everyone helps to improvise and contribute ideas for the gadget structure. However, it is just as important to allocate different people to their respectives roles. We learnt how to be as efficient as possible so that there would not be any second during the competition that we do not know what we are supposed to do. This ensures that after every task we have done, we move on to the next one. Campcraft competition helps us to revise our campcraft skills . It is important for all of us to be familiarised with the lashing and knots well so that we would tie them quickly and accurately.
Although we did not reach our target of getting first place, we feel that we have given our all and are very proud of what we have achieved. We now know that in order to do well in anything, not only in campcraft competition, we have to continuously prepare and make sure that we are confident that we would get the results we want and deserve. We also feel that this experience was not a waste of time or effort as we learnt a valuable lesson and would definitely learn from our mistakes.
- Batch 10
