'It's just amazing'
Scouts become founding members of Troop 11 G during crossover
On Thursday evening, seven members of Cub Scouts Pack 11 Coventry crossed from one end of a wooden bridge to the other. They shed the yellow neckerchiefs and blue epaulets of their pack and, as their families watched from the crowd, officially became scouts.
“It feels amazing,” Emma Robinson said, a Troop 11 Coventry hat on her head, an Arrow of Light badge pinned to her khaki shirt. “I feel like that’s what everyone would say, but I’m just amazed.”
While the boys of Pack 11 crossed into Troop 11, Emma Robinson and three other girls from the pack were dubbed into the brand-new Troop 11 G, the first all-girls Scouts BSA troop in Coventry.
A fifth scout, Lana Carignan, joined Thursday from another troop.
“It’s just amazing that we’re the first people,” Emily Mayer, a student at Washington Oak Elementary School, said of being a founding member of Troop 11 G.
As the troop’s first members, Kristyana Tabulina added, she and her fellow scouts are “the original Pringles in the jar.”
After opening the door for girls to join Scouts BSA in 2019, Boy Scouts of America announced last year that its name would soon change to Scouting America to reflect that inclusivity. That change officially took effect on Feb. 8, 2025, the organization’s 115th birthday.
“Tonight, for the first time in the pack’s history, we have boys and girls crossing over,” Samantha Robinson said to those gathered at Saints
John and Paul Church for the crossover ceremony.
Samantha Robinson, who was a cubmaster and den leader for Pack 11, will serve as scoutmaster of Troop 11 G. She said she “couldn’t be more proud” to be welcoming the first group of girls into the newly formed troop.
Most of the girls of Troop 11 G — including Samantha Robinson’s daughter Emma, now a fifth-grader at Tiogue Elementary School — entered Cub Scouts as kindergarteners at the rank of Lion.
“I wasn’t allowed to be a Boy Scout when I was a kid, for obvious reasons,” Samantha Robinson said. “Now, I’ve got a daughter who knows scouting as having girls in it; that’s how it’s always been for her, and that’s kind of awesome.”
Before their families and fellow scouts, the newcomers to Troop 11 and Troop 11 G on Thursday were awarded their Arrow of Light badges, the only Cub Scout badge that will be worn on their Scouts BSA uniforms.
Then, having earned the highest rank in Cub Scouting, the Arrow of Light recipients were officially welcomed into Scouts BSA.
One-by-one, they crossed over a small wooden bridge. Their epaulets and neckerchiefs were removed and, with help from a few older scouts, each was given the black epaulet, neckerchief and hat of Troop 11 and Troop 11 G.
As she looks ahead, Samantha Robinson said she’s eager to experience all that scouting has to offer alongside the girls of Troop 11 G Coventry.
“I’m just excited to let them take me on their adventure,” she said, admitting that until getting involved with the organization a few years ago she had never imagined herself becoming “an outdoorsy person.”
Emma Robinson said she most looks forward to the campouts, and to spending time at Camp Yawgoog, in particular.
Mayer echoed that.
“I just like hanging out with my besties,” Mayer added, wrapping her arms around Tabulina, Emma Robinson and Nora Kujawski.
As the founding members of Troop 11 G chatted amongst themselves beside her, Samantha Robinson said her hope is for more girls to become involved with Scouts BSA.
“It is a lot of fun,” she said.
Those interested in joining are welcome to attend a future meeting, Samantha Robinson said. Pack 11, which includes students in kindergarten through fifth grade, meets at Saints John and Paul Church Thursdays at 5:45 p.m., and Troop 11 meets at 7 p.m.