National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT)
National Youth Leadership Training is an exciting, action packed program designed to provide youth members of the Boy Scouts of America with leadership skills and experience they can use in their home troops and in any other situations demanding leadership of self and leadership of others.
NYLT models a month in the life of troop – three meetings (one each day for the first three days) leading up to a big outdoor experience (an overnight outpost camp). The course uses the patrol method and presents model Patrol Leaders’ Council meetings. Patrols are challenged early in the week to present to the troop at the end of the week their “Quest for the Meaning of Leadership.” While the challenge is designed to have patrols experience the four stages of team development, it will help patrols and individual Scouts internalize the leadership skills and concepts being presented to them along the way. Throughout the course, the staff will be modeling the concepts and skills that are the core content of the course. The patrols will be challenged with many activities and games, including using GPS receivers to participate in a Geocache wide game. The focus of each session is not only knowledge but giving the youth a “Toolbox of Skills” that equips them with the “how” of leadership.
Objectives of National Youth Leadership Training
- Give participants the confidence and knowledge to conduct the troop program in their home units
- Provide participants with a clear understanding of team and personal development
- Create an environment of Scouting fellowship and fun guided by the Scout Oath and Law
- Give participants the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with Scouts from other troops
- Have fun and experience Scouting at its best
2026 Course = July 26 - July 31
Seven Ranges Scout Reservation
7070 Meter Rd NE, Kensington, OH 44427
Participant Requirements:
- Minimum 13 years old for Scouts BSA
- Minimum 14 years old, or 13 years old and completed 8th grade for Venturers/Sea Scouts
- Minimum rank of First Class for Scouts BSA, or equivalent for Venturers/Sea Scouts
- Completed Troop/Crew/Ship Intro to Leadership Skills Training
- Basic camping and outdoor cooking experience
- Scoutmaster/Crew Advisor approval and parent permission
Course Fee Includes:
- 2 T-shirts. You may order additional t-shirts for $10 each on the Registration Form, OR if desired later, update your registration by following the instructions at the bottom of this page.
- Food
- Lodging
- NYLT patch
- NYLT neckerchief
Additional Course Information:
Participants are organized into patrols which operate within a Troop format. During the week, the patrol members camp, cook, and learn together. This structure provides an opportunity for each of the participants to practice the leadership skills they are learning as the patrol members rotate leadership responsibilities each day. Participants also observe how an ideal youth-led, adult-guided, BSA Troop should function as the troop plans for and then takes their big adventure, the Outpost Campout.
The leadership skills taught during this course include:
- Communicating, Finding Your Vision, Setting Your Goals, Planning, Solving Problems, Developing Your Team, Servant Leadership, Scouting EDGE, Leading Yourself, Ethics and Values in Decision Making, Diversity and Valuing People, Resolving Conflicts, Embracing and Leading Change, and Resilience.
As a result of participating in this course, youth will return to their home units more confident, better communicators, and better team members, both as leaders and followers.
