Uniforms

I partly agree but it's kind of a chicken and egg situation. Value perception is lacking because the program is so difficult to deliver that quality is inconsistent and often poor. But even when well administered there are multiple aspects of the program that no longer work well, appeal to, or provide comparative value to an increasingly large demographic.  

WHAT?!?! Please tell me you are joking. That was a significant part of PDL-1 back in the day. Everything from creating a list of prospects, figuring who to go with you to the prospect, how to dress when approaching the prospect, etc. While we use a nominating committee to get names, DEs were also supposed to come up with names for the nominating committee as well. And if you didn't have a nominating committee.... More Later  

We live in a large suburban school district. There are 200 boys in my son's class. So far, in elementary school, about 50 of the 200 come out for basketball every year. Of those 50, only 10 make the top team. The cost of youth sports keeps increasing because it's just an arm's race to give your kid a slight advantage. When I was a kid most player development occurred within the (low cost) school program. Today, it's closer to 1/3 (if that). Most kids hone their skills through some combination of private small group training, personal trainers, shooting cages, summer camps, and travel teams. My son is pretty good, but I'm not delusional. I don't think he'll ever play professionally, get a college scholarship, or even start for his high varsity team. I just want him to make the team (if he desires). My wife and I are generally supportive because: He seems to be enjoying himself. He's exercising and socializing. He's established a feedback loop where extra practice and offseason work often results in noticeable improvement. He now gets excited about other pursuits like math and reading because he correlates practice with improvement.

Well said. I could not agree more.   Also true.

"Volunteer lead" and "youth lead" are two phrases that are frequently repeated throughout scouting, but are rarely truly implemented. Be a volunteer who questions, and you will not be in that position next time around. My question here is, legally, where does the buck stop if a scout gets hurt at a district event due to failure to follow Scout rules, such as those related to short-term camp? Scoutmaster unit CO volunteer planning commissioner is a DE or ranger if on scout property. So it's truly volunteer-led if you agree with the professionals  As to youth lead no real training or trainers are time by venture age yes at 10 no