Quest Award

Etiquette in the sport

Equipment the sport requires

Protective gear the sport requires, and the reasons for it

The sport's history

The sport's basic rules

Get a full physical from your doctor before starting any conditioning program, and tell the doctor you're about to begin a 90-day fitness improvement program

Interview healthy older adults about their fitness, such as what cardio they do, how their fitness, diet, and activity have changed, and whether they're fitter now than years ago; use what you learn to discuss with your crew or another group why lifelong exercise matters

Research physical fitness and explain it in a 1,500-word or longer essay or in a presentation to a crew, a Scouts BSA troop, a Cub Scout den or pack, or your school, covering aerobic capacity, endurance, body composition, flexibility, and muscle strength; review your work with a fitness professional, your coach, or your Advisor

From your essay or presentation, build a personal fitness improvement program, review it with your Advisor or coach, and follow it for at least 90 days: exercise three or more times a week, keep the Venturing Weekly Exercise Plan and Chart, review each week for energy highs and lows, health, and conditions that affected you, and share it with your Advisor

Using current magazines, articles, or videos, evaluate three or more exercises: how they help personal fitness, what fitness level they need, and what steps and equipment they require; present your findings to your crew or another youth group

Learn to figure the calories needed by sedentary, moderately active, and active people your age; log your food and activity for 10 days, then write a plan to keep a healthy body-fat level that covers the six factors that influence body fat, and share it with your Advisor and coach

Apply biomechanical principles to three muscle-building exercises, list two ways those principles cut injury risk, and discuss this with your crew or another youth group

Discuss with your crew or another youth group the physical and mental work behind peak performance, including the six S-P-I-C-E-S needs for balance: spiritual, physical, intellectual, cultural, emotional, and self-responsibility

List the equipment and facilities your sport needs: personal gear (like a mouthpiece, helmet, or earplugs), team gear (like foils, shooting jackets, or weights), and team or sponsor supplies and places (like targets, ammunition, courts, or rivers)

Discuss how much equipment matters to success in your sport (some, like bobsled and luge, depend heavily on it)

Explain how the equipment for your sport has improved or changed over the years

Study the history of the Olympic movement: when and how it began, when the U.S. Olympic movement started, when and where the Winter Olympics began, which sports were in the first summer and winter Games, and which Olympic years had no Games and why

Choose a sport you like and learn its history: who started it and why, how it has changed, and what new equipment has made it more efficient

Present what you learned in 6a and 6b to your crew, a pack, a troop, another youth group, a retirement home, or a similar audience

List five or more complex and five or more simple carbohydrates; at a crew meeting or Advisor-approved activity, discuss why complex carbs are nutrient-dense and what that means for athletes, why fiber counts as a complex carb, and some high-fiber foods, and serve snacks from each carb group (a guessing game is optional)

Interview a registered dietitian about your favorite sport, and with their help review and build a nutrition plan for you or your team and that sport

Give a presentation on good and bad fats and how they affect a teen's diet, covering saturated, unsaturated, and hydrogenated fats and cholesterol, using visuals like posters, slides, or charts; then work with your crew to figure out each member's fat needs, including your own

Record everything you eat and drink for three days; with a health-care practitioner, check whether you get enough protein, vegetables, fat, carbohydrates, and fiber, and measure how much sugar, sodium, and hydrogenated fat you take in

Name and compare the three kinds of vegetarians with your Advisor or coach; ask a registered dietitian or nutritionist how vegetarians get complete protein each day; then share what you learned in a presentation, display, or other approved activity for a Scouts BSA troop or Cub Scout pack

Research two classes of substances banned in Olympic sport under the anti-doping code (see usantidoping.org) and write a 1,000-word or longer paper or give a presentation on their medical uses, health risks, effects on others and on fair competition, penalties for athletes caught cheating, and the best training plan for an athlete in that sport

Take a health class of 15 hours or more on drug-free sport and choosing not to use drugs (through school, community education, college, a sports group, or online), then create your own multi-session drug-free sport curriculum to teach a youth group

With a trained Advisor, coach, or teacher, take and finish a course recognized nationally or statewide, such as Pursuing Victory With Honor from Character Counts or the ATLAS steroid-prevention program for athletes

Build and deliver a talk about drug-free sport for a school or sports youth group, with a supporting pamphlet or handout (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency materials may be used)

Complete a communications course of 15 or more hours (school, community education, hospital, college, your crew, or an official coach, referee, or athletic trainer program) on a topic such as sportswriting, journalism, mass communication, technical writing, editing, video production, or coaching, then review with your Advisor how it relates to a sport or to health and fitness

Read two or more Advisor-approved books on a sports program you choose (for example sports injuries, anti-doping, disabled sports groups, or Olympic committees) and write a 1,000-word or longer report on each, covering why you chose them, the key communication ideas for that sport, and how you can use them in your sports or crew events; present the reports to your Advisor or crew

Interview two or more people connected with a sport you're interested in (such as coaches, trainers, referees, umpires, sports information directors, sportswriters, reporters, photographers, players, or therapists), and give your crew or another youth group a spoken or written report of 1,000 or more words on what you learned

Make a tabletop display, talk, or video on why communication matters in sports and its role in taking part in any sporting event or program, for a youth group such as your crew or another crew, a Scouts BSA troop, or a Cub Scout den or pack

Take part in one or more sports-related ethical controversies (topics like amateur athletics, drugs and steroids, parent involvement, youth coaching, gambling, discrimination, or sportsmanship); run a different one as part of an ethics forum; and play two cooperative games with your crew or another youth group, one outdoor and one indoor

Create a sports communication piece (such as a media or recruiting guide, schedule poster or card, game program, newsletter, game notes, audio or video, or website) mixing visuals and writing to promote a council, district, school, or community sports event. Get written critiques from two people, one a sport expert; improve it, share it with your Advisor and crew, and use it to promote the event

Research how the media affects a specific sport, and give your Advisor or crew an oral report on its positive and negative effects and how a person can handle the conflicts that may come up

Research what a communications or sports journalism major requires at a nearby college or university, and present the classes, internships, and career paths in a tabletop display or talk for your crew or another youth group

Learn the history of the Paralympic (disabled sports) movement: how and when it started, where to find competitions for disabled athletes, and which sports are in the summer and winter Paralympics

Choose a disabled sport that interests you and learn its history: who started it and why, how it has changed, and what specialized equipment its athletes use

Using 10a and 10b, plan and lead a clinic that builds awareness of disabled sports, such as wheelchair basketball, goalball, sled hockey, or wheelchair rugby, for a youth group like your crew, a Scouts BSA troop, or a Cub Scout den or pack