Seniors Section - The Boys' Brigade Australia

Real Fun, Adventure & Challenge

The Seniors Section in Boys’ Brigade is for young people aged from 12 to 18 years (generally high school age). This is where the big boy’s stuff starts to happen and the friendships are for life. Hope you are up for heaps of Fun, Adventure and Challenge– this is where the adventure really begins.

Seniors groups usually meet weekly in a local church or school hall and each one is part of the activities of a church. The leaders (or Officers) are a great bunch of blokes who encourage you to get into experiencing lots of things you never thought you would.

Sometimes if the section is large enough we divide it into 2 groups – Alphas (under 15 years) and Omegas (over 15 years).

What happens on a weeknight?

Most Seniors will say the most memorable times about Boys’ Brigade on weeknights (Brigade nights) are catching up with their friends and hanging out with the leaders doing cool things.
There is a mix of usual weeknight things like some formal times, skills classes, physical/sporting activities, a devotional sharing time and a uniform to wear.

A good part of this time involves preparing for the stuff that happens on the weekend – preparing to experience the outdoors with canoeing, hiking, camping, and many other activities.
To get the best out of Brigade you need to make it a priority to be there on a regular basis at both weeknight and weekend activities, and give everything a go you can!

How do I join?

Have a look at Find a group map and see if a BB company is near you so you can join a group.
Contact the Boys’ Brigade office in your state by selecting the your state from the drop down and send us an email. Talk with the leaders in your local area about joining BB group.

There’s outdoor stuff

Each group has its own specialties depending on the expertise of the leaders and where you live. Some groups even get to do things like orienteering, rogaining, mountain climbing, mountain bike riding and ropes courses.
Some groups get together with others to share equipment and experiences – all great for meeting new friends and sharing the adventures of the outdoors.

There’s the mates

The group does most things together so your adventures and challenges are shared with some of the best mates you never knew before you joined.

There’s the badges

Many of the activities have a badge attached to them. Its called the Awards Scheme but basically you have fun:

Learning how to do an activity safely
Getting into the experience
Qualifying for an award if you knock it over and you successfully complete the activity

You are encouraged to have a try at heaps of activity options that are grouped into four areas –

Physical (as much as you can handle)
Outdoor/adventure (says it all!!)
Skills (real world stuff – practical skills/ life skills)
Core (Serving others in the community, exploring your spirituality etc)

In all, there are 10 awards you can gain across the 5 years in the section. You can gain up to 5 levels in each award.

Leadership Development

Helping you find the leader within – Every person has a part to play in leading and serving others in our society and the community – leading a team, a hiking party, doing stuff to support other leaders, helping the old lady down the street.

Developing yourself – Brigade helps you develop your own skills and talents and to learn new skills as well. Brigade runs special courses and programs at state level that really help give you lots of skills and to sort through the maze of the stressful stuff happening for you in your teens – school, career, relationships, attitudes and life priorities.

Junior leaders – Seniors are chosen and appointed by the Officers to allow them to grow their skills in leadership within the group. You need to be at least 15, show some initiative to want to ‘have a go’ at leading others, and be committed to working as part of the leader team. You would be surprised what talent you have already.

Want to know more – well read on…………

Then there are the ‘big’ badges

While there are 10 activity awards up for grabs as mentioned earlier, there are also some extra ‘big’ awards waiting to be gained.

The Queen’s Badge

This is our biggest and most prestigious badge and takes at least 3 years to earn. There is a minimum age of 16 years to qualify. There’s lots of work to be done but most of the other activity awards mentioned earlier contribute towards gaining your Queen’s Badge.

Why ‘Queen’s Badge?’ Well that’s because Queen Elizabeth II is the world patron of the Brigade – the highest award is named after her.

The badge is usually presented by your State Governor with quite a bit of ceremony.

Sir William A Smith Award

This is a neat badge named after the founder of Boys’ Brigade worldwide back in Scotland 130 years ago. It’s called the ‘SWASA’ for short and you can earn it in just 3 years max in Seniors if you work at it. Wearing it on your arm gives you a constant reminder that you have done well so far, and it’s also an encouragement to keep going towards your Queen’s.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

This is a community award that you can qualify for while doing Boys’ Brigade badgework.

It’s quite prestigious and like the other badges looks good on your CV and at job applications.

Girls’ Brigade – By the way there is a Girls’ Brigade for your sister to join as well.

Seniors – real Fun, Adventure & Challenge