What is Project COPE?
COPE — Challenging Outdoor Personal Experiences — is a Scouting program that includes group initiative games, trust events, and challenges that reach from the ground to the sky. This full weekend course will let you climb, swing, balance, jump, rappel, problem-solve, and become stronger both as individuals and as a team. Are you ready? Lets climb on!
COPE activities are not designed to be competitive or a race against time—they are designed to encourage everyone to do their best and have fun. The COPE experience emphasizes building self-esteem, developing leadership and working as a team to accomplish tasks, while allowing for every person to succeed as an individual and as a member of their group. Scouts often use our COPE program as part of their annual leadership training activities, and other youth groups and businesses use the course to bring newly formed teams together or help existing groups of people work together in new ways.
Goals of COPE
The course is designed to foster personal growth in a shorter length of time than anything most people have experienced. We will test your personal boundaries, challenge you to communicate in new ways…and all-around surprise you! Some of the activities involve a group challenge while others test individual skills and agility. Most people accomplish much more than they imagined they could. Even groups of people who already know each other well become closer and learn new things about each other. All activities emphasize one or more of the eight goals of COPE:
- Communication: COPE encourages real learning of critical listening and discussion skills important for any group attempting to accomplish difficult tasks.
- Planning: COPE participants are encouraged to consider and/or develop goals for each activity and options for achieving those goals, utilizing the group’s strengths to devise and carry out a course of action. Nontraditional solutions that are “outside the box” may be appropriate.
- Teamwork: Teamwork is the key that allows a group to meet a COPE challenge successfully. The COPE experience makes it clear that each individual can accomplish more as a member of a team than by going it alone.
- Trust: Participants completing difficult tasks on a COPE course develop trust in COPE staff members, the safety of the course, each other, and themselves.
- Leadership: Leadership is given and assumed naturally, and it can be expressed in many ways. Team members attempting to solve problems on a COPE course have many opportunities to develop and exercise leadership skills.
- Decision Making: Project COPE requires groups to make decisions by developing one or more solutions to a problem, considering the available resources and alternatives, and evaluating the probable results.
- Problem Solving: Project COPE challenges groups and individuals to develop solutions to interesting problems. Participants can then test their solutions and evaluate the results.
- Self-Esteem: Meeting the challenges of a COPE course allows individuals and groups to develop self-esteem and encourages them to adopt challenging, attainable goals.
What’s different about COPE vs traditional individual or team sports?
- Noncompetitive: COPE activities emphasize the importance of working together without creating the ‘winner-loser’ situation found in most team sports.
- Nontraditional: People with underdeveloped coordination or strength can be discouraged by traditional sports and games, while experienced athletes might be overconfident in their physical abilities. COPE encourages the involvement of all team members in all activities and events.
- Risk Taking: The actual risk of a properly conducted COPE program is lower than traditional sports programs, but the perceived risk can be very high. Facing that risk helps people build self-esteem and trust.
- Performance vs. Process: COPE instructors emphasize the process of decision making and problem solving and how those things can affect the outcome. This process helps people develop and reinforce skills needed to solve problems in all aspects of life.
- Adventurous and Exciting: COPE encourages spontaneity. The activities and events teach people (of all ages) how to have fun in a responsible manner and allow them to interact without being restricted by preconceived notions of group behavior.
- Acceptance of Responsibility (Challenge by Choice): COPE participants are never coerced into doing any activity. Everyone is encouraged to take part, but staff members and group leaders respect the right of each individual to refrain from taking part in any or all activities or events.
- Adaptable: By varying the goal or adjusting limitations, most COPE activities and events can be customized to challenge each team and each participant at an appropriate level.
- Positive Reinforcement: COPE participants are encouraged to discuss, suggest and recommend but never to insult each other through words or actions. No idea is a bad idea.
What do COPE events consist of?
- Warm-up Games and Exercises: After a long trip or a night camping, bodies are stiff. Warm-up games and exercises help limber bodies and get participants ready for a day of mental and physical activities, as well as a whole lot of fun!
- Initiative Games: Initiative games help people in a group learn to work together through communication and trust in order to achieve their goals. Creative problem solving is rewarded!
- Trust Events: Trust events cultivate trust between individuals and within the group as a whole.
- Low-Course Events: Low-course events do not require participants to be on a safety belay. Instead, people may be swinging from ropes, walking on wires or balancing on beams and platforms. While individual coordination and strength are helpful, participants accomplish the low-course activities with the support and combined efforts of their groups.
- High-Course Events: High-course events do require participants to be on a safety belay. High-course events at Mataguay Scout Ranch are held 35 feet above the ground on exciting wire and rope elements. This challenge focuses on individual initiative rather than group problem solving.
Who can participate in COPE?
- All Scout age children (11+) can participate in COPE. For activities designed for younger participants, please contact the COPE director.
- We make every effort to accommodate people with disabilities while maintaining safety as our highest priority. Please provide detailed information about any members of your group who may require special accommodation.
- Each participant/parent must sign and turn in a Hold Harmless Agreement form to the COPE director in charge of the event.
- All Scout participants must provide Medical forms part A and B.
When does COPE operate?
- COPE is available every month except June/July/August at Mataguay Scout Ranch. As with any outdoor activity, we are subject to the whims of the weather. COPE staff is responsible for monitoring weather conditions and adjusting the program accordingly. Safety is our highest priority.
- The most common weather-related issues are dehydration and temperature-related emergencies such as hypothermia or heat exhaustion/heat stroke. Rain by itself is not an absolute reason to discontinue a course, because most activities can still be conducted in wet conditions (although they may be more difficult) if proper safety procedures are followed. The COPE director will be the final arbiter on cancelling/delaying the day’s activities.
Course Operation
The C.O.P.E. program offerings can be tailored for your group. Some examples:
- Day trip only: Saturday 8am to 5pm. (Initiative games and Low elements)
- Single overnight: Friday evening arrival through 5pm Saturday evening (Initiative games and Low elements)
- Double overnight: Friday evening arrival through ~noon Sunday
For groups wanting a double overnight, the unit can plan their own program at our awesome camp for Saturday night and Sunday AM or contact the C.O.P.E team to arrange a program (Options could include night course elements, night/ghost/history hikes, stargazing, campfire circles or ??? A “Scouts Own” time can also be scheduled into the program on Sunday morning.
Please contact the course Director for other options we can provide for your group: Tarlin Lanese at Mataguay.COPE@gmail.com
Course I’d like to be an instructor or volunteer time with the COPE program
Please contact the COPE director and team at Mataguay.COPE@gmail.com for further information.
Registration
