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I resembled that remark.

How true or Scout execs looking to keep key volunteers happy.

Yeah yeah yeah; you found it right? You found one of the gray areas. You have to be careful, there is so much gray area; this stuff doesn't mix well with 22 year old professional scouters just trying to not get fired while they pay off their college loans.

Based on what I am reading the general consensus seems to have shifted from the issue not being cost but the youth/families interest and a limitation on time. I want to point out that I and others have mentioned the limited space at the top of the sports (varsity). I really like the baseball analogy since there are so many large scale feeder systems throughout the whole country. Most towns have a little league/peewee baseball league that has hundreds of kids in it; and that feeds up to the local team which at most has 18 kids in most states. In my area juniors and seniors can get dumped down to JV or FROS/FROSH due to less roster restrictions. Normally being demoted down is a punishment for behavior or grades; once in a while I'll notice a kid dumped off of varsity and it's because they have an injury and they're basically practicing at a lower level to stay connected to the team in active recovery; kind of stupid in my opinion. What are these sports and clubs offering that scouting does not? If your kid is 1 in hundreds at the grade school level and their only shot is to make 1 of 18 spots at the varsity level; what's the connection? What's the draw? I think it's that the sports are basically saying "your kid will get X" and they deliver.

That appears to be subjective on the part of the Trustee. My hunch, and it's only that, that cases where there was ample notice (abuser was known to the BSA prior) and the covering insurance company has a lot of primary liability for coverage, would be ripe for release.

Is there anyone other than the Trustee that would know how many of these cases meet the criteria to send to trial?

No idea but it's the question I'd ask if there's another Town Hall. I hope others will as well.

Do you have any guesses as to why she hasn't done this? Is there any benefit at all? It doesn't sound like there is, from what you've posted here, so I wonder what the reasoning is.

The trust has issued a statement. Why the Trustee hasn't used all this time to determine the next payout percentage is a head-scratcher. Perhaps a "town hall" will be called soon. Statement here: Salesforce

I'd like to agree but I think this is just standard briefing. The insurers will assert their rights and say that their policies allowed the investigation of every claim, something the Trust did instead, but doesn't bind an insurer. It would be a VERY bold step for a Judge to tell the insurers to pay up, and if they did it would be appealed in minutes. Again, the Trustee has 250 IRO claims she can send to trial and start to inflict pain on the insurers. Awards beyond the IRO amount then go to the "general fund" to serve all claimants. But, repeated losses (Juries tend to side with Survivors), would give the insurers real reason to cut deals.

Newly Retired U.S. Judge Lynn Will Mediate Huge Boy Scouts Insurance Dispute - The Texas Lawbook it's going to take YEARS. This is a time value of money proposition for the insurers. Delay is in their interest because they make money on the assets they hold. Assigning a mediator sounds nice but they'll never mediate an agreement that would be painful for the insurers and good news for Survivors.

This is the most recent order from the Texas judge. Combined with today's SCOTUS denial, I do believe the pressure is building on these insurance carriers.

Yes, but the IRO option was designed to identify cases that would be "released" to trial and start applying pressure on the non-settling insurers. To date, none have moved forward and there's been no explanation why that is. That strategy is used in Catholic Diocese cases all the time and to great effect. It's a significant arrow in the Trustee's quiver that she refuses to shoot.

The case has been filed in Texas Federal Court, Houser vs the Non-Settling Carriers. I believe there are 82 carriers involved.

Is this the trust then suing each holdout insurance carrier?

Today is truly a historical day in the BSA Bankruptcy. Almost 59,000 survivors will see a path forward without having a tiny majority being able to throw up roadblocks. The plan itself is not perfect and has many warts but now we can see the end. I still would not vote yes for it, and I believe many who did now have regrets however, many of my fellow survivors would recover nothing for their suffering if the Supreme Court had decided to uphold the Lujan writ. You will see many posts about how little you may ultimately receive (some say less than 10%) but remember they have no crystal ball or insider information. the ultimate percentage amount will depend on the outcome of Houser vs the non-settling carriers. Try hard to not let the Debbie Downers rain on today's good news.

Email that just went out this morning:

Writ has been denied by SCOTUS. Additional $1.65 billion sitting in escrow can now go to the Trust. Hopefully the Trustee will have a statement and perhaps Town Hall soon. The appeal by an attorney representing 72 claimants only took 3 1/2 years post confirmation. Enjoy some rare good news.

These are all fair points, @yknot. I do think scarcity of time is still a factor in the scouts vs. sports debate, but I may be overestimating its impact for the reasons you mentioned. My son is pretty keen on basketball, but if he gets dropped from the top team, I think he'll pivot to football where he can at least be on the team and be "one of the guys." I do hope he sticks with Scouting, even if it always takes a backseat to sports, but it's up to him. He's already given it a good try. What would factor into his decision? I assume some combination of: Which carries greater prestige in the school / community? Probably Football. Which increases his chance of getting dates in high school? Probably Football Which looks better on a scholarship application? Probably Scouting (but it's closer than most will admit) Teenage Whims / Randomness

My point in this Scouts vs. Sports thread is that most families/kids interested in youth sports type activities are not going to be interested in scouting no matter how many free nights they have available.* That's because the activity doesn't appeal much to a lot of them in the first place. A few hours of possible fun on a monthly camp out isn't what they are looking for. Another point is that sports exclusivity to the degree claimed by scouters is largely a myth. There are regional differences but opportunities for play at middle school and high school levels have only expanded, both in and out of school. Specialization, injury/rest protocols, tiered programs/leagues, freshman teams, and emerging sports have increased roster sizes and broadened options across the board. Ages also don't really align -- if you're talking about JV or Varsity play, a significant percentage of scouts have already moved on from scouting by then. Sports is not keeping them from scouting. If you are talking cub scout or cross over ages, take a look at the mandatory requirements for AOL. The most appealing active adventure, Outdoors, has practically no actual activity prescribed in it. There is not much there to appeal to an active 10 year old. That is why scout membership is declining, not because of youth sports. It is wasted energy for scouters to be distracted by sports instead of focusing on why scouting itself isn't more appealing to youth and families. Another observation as a parent volunteer in both youth sports and scouts is that too many adults in scouting want the program to be what they think "kids today" need vs. just serving youth. For a supposedly youth led organization, adults layer an awful lot onto the program and it has made it stultifying in some aspects. *Shorter statured basketball players, even gifted ones, start having free nights once the height equation kicks in. You don't see a huge wave of them showing up in scouts in middle school and early high school though. They generally transition to another sport just as you are looking at football. What would scouting have to do to make the activity more appealing to your basketball player than football?

Do not know if this happens in sports still, know it does with music, but the activity is a grade, you don't make practice, attend a game, etc and you lose points off your grade. For example, all the football players tended to have the same PE class. However during season, practice and games was the PE class, and that period was used as a mandatory study hall for the player. Ditto other sports. Band would get a study period for major activities only.

I wouldn't discount the impact youth sports has had on Scouting's decline. There are only so many nights each week a family can devote to kids' activities. I agree there are other issues for Scouting to address, but this is a Scouts vs. Sports thread. You're correct - it's a mistake to conflate making a varsity roster with success just the same as it is to only consider Scouts who earn Eagle a success. However, IF you're in a large suburban school district AND your son desires to play a varsity team sport (besides football), they pretty much have to lock-in around 5th or 6th grade (which can crowd out other activities, including Scouting). This is unusual in my region. A junior playing JV would take a roster spot and playing time from a freshmen or sophomore who is still developing. Coaches use this option sparingly (like when they have a talented senior class and don't want to cut all of the juniors). In my region, lacrosse is still a club sport while hockey usually operates as a co-op (several schools combine to outfit one team). Football is the great equalizer with an unlimited roster, but participation comes with greater health risks. I don't think my wife and I would mind if our son played high school football, but we'd rather first see how far he can go with basketball.

Or, from my observations and stories I have heard (?) they do not have to worry about not being allowed to particpate as they can, in most cases. No absolutes of course, but the sports stories are numerous, and I have encountered a Scout on occasion that had a coach tell them it was either or, and no matter, if he missed a pracice he was benched or even off the "team". Have to wonder the definition of team here of course.

Things are different depending on where you are. Juniors who don't make varsity can still play JV in most cases. Some of those juniors won't make Varsity as seniors, but there are other extracurricular options and most of them will still see three good years of play at the high school level. You are doing what most scouters do -- focus comparisons on the single, final, high school senior year of a student athlete's entire career. It's even less relevant when you look at how many scouts are not even active or in scouting by that age. As far as rosters, baseball, soccer, football, and even basketball carry pretty large numbers. We haven't talked about Lacrosse or Winter ice hockey. In regions where those sports are common, they can carry even bigger rosters -- 20 to 30. There are also plenty of situations in scouting where youth can't make the "cut" for something -- activities that have limited head counts or prerequisites that are harder for some kids to meet for whatever reason. And if you are in a unit that is Eagle or First Class First Year focused, which many are, scouts can absolutely get left behind by peers if they miss things. I don't see much point in attacking youth sports for scouts' membership decline. I think it's irrelevant. Issues with scouting are why it is in decline. Trying to blame sports is a nonproductive distraction away from those issues in my opinion.

It took me a bit, but I found the part that defines this situation. Your description is not accurate as the gap would be >5 days. The council could define it as a "day camp" or not if the gap is 5 days or more. "Except for day camps as provided below, a camp is an overnight program . In determining the length of a camp, count all nights where any participants (other than staff) are present with substantially the same camp leadership or camp staff, regardless of what the camp is called, unless there is a gap of five or more nights between sessions . Camp includes the following classifications: 1 . Day camps . A day camp is a council-organized program designed for Scouts for two or more days, under council-retained leadership at an approved site with no overnight . The program may operate at age-appropriate Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Venturer, or Sea Scout level . A council may choose to treat a one-day event (without an overnight) as a day camp."