Youth Leadership Academy Brought Online

Being of good cheer even when things don’t go according to plan.

A Royal Ranger is always ready to work, play, serve, worship, live, and obey God’s Word. The Rangers’ motto was put to the test when physical Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) camps were canceled. The annual camp usually has a turnout of over 200 trainees who work, play, and encounter the Lord together. In the absence of YLA, how ready were the Rangers to make the best out of the situation?

Cheers, songs and yells are some of the most iconic parts of YLA, promoting patrol spirit and camaraderie as the Rangers tough it out at camp. Prevented from gathering physically, YLA was among one of the many church programs and activities that had to be quickly adapted to navigate the many disruptions to how things were usually run. Presented with this challenge, commanders stepped up to the plate and leveraged technology to organize the inaugural Royal Rangers YLA Cheer Competition!

The Challenge

Patrols got together to brainstorm, create and record their unique patrol cheer along the themes of Unity, Creativity, and Energy. With the use of props, cool soundtracks and fancy video-editing, it was up to the Rangers from all over Singapore to make it fun, interesting and do their best to cheer their hearts out together, even when apart.

Submissions poured in from many different outposts, with many enthusiastic patrols vying for the winning spot for their age-group category. The entries were bursting with creativity—crisp transitions weaved one scene to another, while patrol unity was on full display through the use of the same zoom backgrounds. The energy was explosive and undeniably Royal Rangers.

The Showcase

For the 5-7 year old Ranger Kids (RK), the Antelope Patrol from Outpost #11, Faith Assembly of God, clinched the prize with their amazing, astonishing and adventurous cheer! Commander Lee Li Ern’s favorite part of coming up with the cheer was the enthusiastic contributions from the RKs. The creative young Rangers came up with their own words and actions for their cheer, and the fun experience helped forge stronger relationships among the Rangers in the patrol. “We kept it simple and had fun together. The cheer brought unity to the patrol!” said Commander Li Ern.

Outpost #11’s Mighty Beaver Patrol emerged victorious among the 8-10 year old Discovery Rangers (DR)! Patrol Commander Ryan Teo commented, “Our cheer was unique as all the DRs were tasked to do their filming completely independently, but I believe they all watched the final product pieced together with a sense of pride and accomplishment, for having worked together to create this cheer that they can call their own.”

Commander Ryan helped to compose simple and impactful lyrics and arrange the cheer. “Because it was short and simple, it allowed the DRs to participate more easily and readily,” he explained. He also took the time to send the parents of his DRs a video explaining each DR’s role in the cheer. This extra step helped all of them produce wonderful footage of their children cheering. “A tip I’d like to share is to be clear and focused when directing the children,” he quipped. “When you are certain of what you want done, they too will be clear and confident.”

Outpost #11’s Adventure Rangers also pulled ahead to win the competition in their 11-14 year old age-group category! Patrol Commander Bernard Pang enjoyed witnessing the Rangers’ competitive spirit, and how they gave the best of what they have got even without knowing that there would be a prize. In the process of coming up with their cheer, the Mighty Beavers each came up with an adjective to describe the Patrol along with an accompanying action for their chosen word. “They were empowered to decide the adjectives to be used, the sequence, and the ending of the cheer,” Commander Bernard explained. The experience also increased their patrol identity and he noticed that the Rangers were more open to contribute during the ranger meetings as a result.

Finally, Outpost #23, The Harvest Force’s Orsome Orcas Patrol cheered their way to victory for the 15-18 year old Expedition Rangers (ER) age-group category! Being the oldest rangers in the program, the Orsome Orcas truly set the bar high by taking full initiative in the entire process of coming up with their witty cheer. ER Commander, Ps Bernadette Fan, observed that the patrol members were considerate towards one another and was very responsive towards meeting the dateline. “Because the cheer and actions were initiated by the ERs, I really didn’t have to do much at all. I merely facilitated the process and edited their videos,” she shared.

Congratulations to the winning patrols and well done to all participants! Ever ready, we look forward to seeing how God will continue to lead us to adapt and evolve the Royal Rangers program to continue Reaching, Teaching and Keeping boys and girls for Christ.