Venturing is a program within the Boy Scouts of America that is for older youth. Whereas Cub Scouts is for kids in Kindergarten-5th Grade, and Scouts BSA is for ages 11-18, Venturing is for youth in the age range of 14-21. Venturing is a co-ed program, and unlike the Scouts BSA model of single gendered Troops in Venturing the Crew (Crew is the Unit, like a Pack or Troop) is co-ed. Since the Venturing program is for older Scouts the size and challenge of the activities can be more challenging in comparison to what a Troop might do. The Venturing program is heavily based on the ALPS  model where ALPS stands for; Adventure, Leadership, Personal Growth, and Service.

Venture Crews are stand alone units, however, there are Troops who use it as an embedded older Scout program to kids youth active and exciting. Some Troops have these Scout dual registered in the Troop and Crew then offer a few “extra” events exclusively for the older Scouts, and use the Crew like an Honor Patrol. Whether embedded with a Troop or not, Scouts are able to dual register into any units that they are age-eligible for.

The focus of Venturing is to help Scouts grow to a new level of maturity, so self-reflection and personal growth are part of the rank requirements, as are leadership and eventual coaching of other youth leaders. More is expected of Venture Scouts as they take on large roles in planning, with the adults merely providing oversight and advice for their activities. The reward for this is that Scouts in a Venture Crew get to do larger more complex events that are a lot of fun, but might be too much for younger Scouts BSA members.