Lakewood Ranch should go ga-ga for this Boy Scout

It was a wide-ranging conversation at the Lakewood Ranch YMCA, covering ga-ga pits, exploring canoe trips to Canada and then eventually evolving to a discussion about the first moon landing.

Such is life when you give a soon-to-be Eagle Scout a little space.

Lakewood Ranch's Andrew den Boggende is the Boy Scout, who will reach the coveted Eagle rank probably in May or June when he finishes a review process to make sure he is worthy. He finished his actual requirements by leading a project to build the aforementioned ga-ga pit for the YMCA.

For those of you, like me, who have never played the game of ga-ga, think of it as dodgeball in a tiny corral. The corral part was built by den Boggende and a group of volunteers from Troop 89 out of the Christ Presbyterian Church on Upper Manatee Road. A tip of the hat goes to den Boggende's grandfather, Francis Suppe, who designed the whole thing.

The sections of the ga-ga pit, six in all, are eight feet long and three feet high. They all bolt together in a relatively easy manner, meaning the entire device only takes about 10 minutes to assemble. The YMCA had the pit tucked away in a store room, but can bring it into the gym in a snap.

It was at the YMCA den Boggende started playing ga-ga at a very young age. He loved the game and thought such a project would allow other children to enjoy something he held so dear. Certainly, painting fire hydrants or organizing a pond cleanup would have been worthy projects, but den Boggende had a special connection to ga-ga because of the YMCA, which was happy to accept his generosity.

After seeing the pit, though, it was obvious we weren't going to talk ga-ga strategy for the next hour, so we bounced around from topic to topic.

For someone who has lived a little, like myself, it's a joy to visit with a 14-year-old who defies the notion that "they don't make them like they used to." Anyone who wants to blanket label today's youth as lazy and unfocused isn't playing attention.

Sure den Boggende appears to be the cream of the crop, but I'm sure he will have lots of competition as he fights his way through high school, college and eventually the job market.

Besides ascending to Eagle Scout, den Boggende plays basketball for Lakewood Ranch's junior varsity basketball team and is a track and field athlete as well. Already 6-foot-2, he is a power forward on the basketball team, but one who knows he will have to handle a basketball flawlessly if he hopes to play guard in college.

So what, Andrew, are you doing messing around with the Boy Scouts if you hope to earn a scholarship in basketball or track and field?

"It builds great character in young people," he said. "The experiences I have had will last a lifetime."

Ok, nice audition for being a potential Scouting poster boy, but isn't it time to hang up the signal flags?

Den Boggende admits he will back off his Scouting responsibilities a bit while he increases his training intensity for the two sports. Then again, there is that Scouting trip this summer that begins in Minnesota and then crosses into Canada by canoe. This is, indeed, the wild. Other than his fellow Scouts and a real scout, no human beings or ga-ga pits along the way.

No doubt den Boggende holds the camping part of Scouting close to his heart, especially when you listen to him to description of what he has learned from Scouting.

"It teaches you life skills," he said. "Cooking, cleaning, setting up tents."

Sounds like the essentials to me.

He was quick to note that his time in Boy Scouts wasn't all about raccoons and mountain hikes.

In February, he went with his troop to the Kennedy Space Center, meeting an astronaut and watching a rocket launch. "It was really interesting," he said.

By this time, his mom, Alison den Boggende had joined us. His dad and fellow ga-ga pit builder, Gerry den Boggende, wasn't present.

Alison beamed with pride as her son conversed, quite comfortably, with somebody four times his age. She loves his drive to become an Eagle Scout, and she knows the sky is the limit from here.

"You know," Alison noted. "There is a solid link between Scouting and astronauts. When they landed on the moon, you know, 'The Eagle has landed.'"

For the record, Alison, Neil Armstrong was talking about the Lunar Lander, named the "Eagle," and not referring to the fact he was an Eagle Scout.

Even so her point was well-taken. Andrew is ready to blast off into his promising future, and he seems quite capable of reaching for the stars.