For 1st Discovery Scout Group’s Seth McCloghrie, Scouting has been a lifelong journey of adventure, challenge, leadership and personal growth. Coming from four generations of Scouts, earning his Springbok Award was not only a significant personal achievement but also the culmination of years spent exploring the outdoors, developing new skills and pushing himself beyond what he thought was possible.

“I come from a deeply rooted Scouting family, but outside of uniform, I am currently homeschooled and attend classes at a local tutor centre for my Matric year. I am an avid photographer, rock climber, and mountain biking enthusiast. I dedicate a lot of my free time to content creation, filmmaking, and rock climbing.

I joined 1st Discovery as a wee little 5-year-old as both of my parents were Scouters involved with the Pack. Around the age of 12, after the lockdown restrictions were lifted, I decided not to go back because I wasn’t enjoying Scouting anymore. However, I came back to Scouting 1,5 years later when I was invited to attend my PL’s First Class camp. At that point, my uniform barely fit me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and attended regularly again after that. I figure my love for the outdoors and learning things is what eventually kept me in Scouting,” explains Seth.

Pioneering, hiking and camping are some of his favourite Scouting activities. “”A very fun memory I have is winning my District’s pioneering competition by building a ‘witch hat’ shaped Eiffel Tower. I just loved the magnitude of the tower, as it sat at over 8 meters tall!

The most challenging Scout adventure I had outside of Springbok was probably my PLTU participant course. My back severely spasmed by day 4 of the 10-day course, which wore out a disk in my back and caused immense pain for the rest of the course. However, I persevered and completed it—and apparently not too badly, as I went back and staffed the following Gilten PLTU amidst my Springbok journey. I met some pretty amazing people there who have shaped the way I live my life and have given me a better understanding of what I want out of it. In a world full of digital noise, having real-life friends and mentors who hold you accountable and push you to grow is everything.”

Scouting has always been a family affair for Seth as over four generations of the McCloghrie family have been Scouts. “My family has been in Scouting on my dad’s side all the way from my great-grandfather, who earned his King’s Scout award in the UK. His daughter, my grandmother, earned her Queen’s Scout and her husband, my grandfather, was a Boy Scout in Wales. My father was a Patrol Leader at Protea Ridge Scout Group, and my mom is currently the 1st Discovery Scout Group Leader.

In a Scouting family, most things in the house revolve around events, meetings, and programmes. But there are some milestones that stand out. As a Troop Leader I was the flag bearer for the investiture of my sister; I was awarded my Leaping Wolf by my father who was the Pack Scouter at the time; I received my cords from my mother as Scout Group Leader; and I eventually took over leadership of a Patrol directly from my brother,” he says proudly.

Leadership became an important part of Seth’s Scouting journey. After attending PLTU, he served as Patrol Leader before becoming Troop Leader. “Some of the notable skills I learned as a Patrol Leader and Troop Leader were accountability, resource management, delegation, taking charge of a situation, pushing others to do and be their best selves, and planning—a lot of it. I found people skills, time management, and managing a team while taking accountability for their mistakes a challenge. While spending time with my fellow Scouts I learnt that there is always something that will go wrong, so you need to account for it when planning your time and remain a positive role model throughout.” Seth’s advice to younger Patrol Leaders is simple but powerful: “You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. You might be trying so hard to live up to other people’s expectations and be perfect, but you never stop and think whether you are trying to do your best, or their best. Understand that you are different people with different skills and talents. No one is ever perfect, but we can always strive to be better. Stop comparing yourself to others, because you are in that position because you earned it.”

Seth’s enthusiasm for learning evident as he earned both his Airman’s Cord and Service Cord, while completing 29 Interest badges! “The clue is in the name: Interest badges. I happen to be interested in a ton of different things, especially aviation, engineering, and exploration. That curiosity naturally drove me to finish my Airman’s Cord. My absolute favourite badges were Air Navigator, Cycling, and Rock Climbing. When I finished my Service Cord I realised along the way just how much I loved the learning process.

I also learnt that Interest badges might not always seem necessary when you’re only trying to complete advancements and become a leader, but they secretly teach you the exact skills you need to be a good Scout. They throw you into unexpected topics, help you discover hidden passions, and give you a chance to build a specialised skillset that you can wear proudly on your sleeve.” As for why he completed so many badges, Seth laughs: “When I was 15, I made a promise to myself that I would make my right uniform sleeve look as close to a decorated Christmas tree as humanly possible. I kept that promise!”

Recently, he completed his Springbok Award, the highest achievement a youth can earn in the Scout Programme. But for Seth, this represents something much bigger than the badge itself.

“Ultimately, achieving my Springbok makes me feel an immense sense of personal pride and self-belief. It’s not because of the certificate or the cloth badge itself, but rather because of what I managed to prove to myself along the way. Achieving this award makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something truly rare and unique. Out of all invested South African Scouts since the award became available, only about 1-2% achieve their Springbok—and that’s out of millions of people over time. Knowing that I pushed through that pressure entirely of my own will, purely to do my absolute best, is an incredibly empowering feeling. It makes me feel capable of taking on whatever challenges come next in life.

The Springbok journey forces you to develop a massive toolkit that school simply doesn’t prepare you for at this scale. You’ve had deadlines at school before, but never entirely of your own will. Unlike school, where an educator sets the rules, Springbok is optional—you can quit without repercussion—which makes the choice to stay and manage it even more significant.

Throughout his Springbok journey, Seth’s projects reflected his interests, his great sense of humour, and his commitment to serving others. “For my pioneering project I built a tower crane with a moving trolley that was able to lift objects and roll back and forth across the arm. I’ve always been fascinated with mechanical assemblies and structures, which is why I chose to make one of the most interesting and refined things people see daily. It was also quite comical to pioneer a piece of construction equipment where the only construction involved was the tower crane itself,” he says with a smile. For his service project Seth gave back to his Scout Group by redesigning and building new bathroom stalls for the Scout hall. During his camp at the Vaal River he focused on developing the Scouting skillset of younger Scouts by going back to basics. But the best part of his Springbok journey was his expedition. “My expedition was the absolute highlight of my Springbok. I held it in the Northern Drakensberg. It entailed one day of hiking followed by two days of mountain biking through the scenic mountain range, totalling around 65km. We spent the night before the expedition in the Montusi Mountain Lodge, the next night under the stars with a fire on a mountain top, followed by a night in A-frame pre-built tents at Sungubala Eco Camp, and ended the expedition back at Montusi with another night’s stay before leaving. Fancy, I know! But this was because I never genuinely thought I would ever make it to Springbok. When I finally did, I decided I wanted to do something I knew I would love doing, and getting to visit one of my most anticipated landscapes was a major perk.”

Just before completing his Springbok, Seth also received two Regional Commissioner’s Commendations at a single parade. “It was an incredible honour and a really rewarding way to cap off this chapter of my Scouting journey just as everything was coming together.”

Seth believes that getting outdoors is more important than ever for young people. “I think it’s extremely important for young people to get out and explore. Sometimes when things are rough or you just need a break, a change of scenery and reconnecting with nature can completely improve your mental and physical wellbeing, while giving you the opportunity to create memories worth more than money could buy. I am personally a nature freak and love to spend my time just being outside and away from urban life. It makes me feel insignificant yet powerful, because knowing you can navigate and conquer a landscape that is so significantly bigger than you will always be one of life’s greatest gifts.

After an incredible journey, Seth will be continuing his family’s legacy of service as he prepares to step up as Assistant Troop Scouter.”