National Youth Leadership Training

National Youth Leadership Training is an exciting, action-packed program that provides youth members with leadership skills and experience you can use in your home troop and other situations demanding leadership of yourself and others.

The NYLT course centers around the concepts of what a leader must BE, what they must KNOW, and what they must DO. The key elements are taught with a clear focus on HOW TO. Your skills come alive during the week as your patrol goes on a Quest for the Meaning of Leadership.

NYLT is a six-day course. Content is delivered in a troop and patrol outdoor setting with an emphasis on immediate application of learning in a fun environment. Interconnecting concepts and work processes are introduced early, built upon, and aided by the use of memory aids, which allows participants to understand and employ the leadership skills much faster.

2025 Course Information

Firelands Scout Reservation
June 8-14, 2025

To attend the NYLT course, a youth must have the following qualifications by the beginning of the course:

Must be a registered member of a Scouting unit.
Must have a current BSA Health and Medical Record form parts A, B, and C.
Scouts BSA members must be at least 13 and achieved First Class rank. They must have completed Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops.
Venturers and Sea Scouts must have completed Introduction to Leadership Skills for Crews or Ships. It is recommended that they have had at least one year of camping experience. While NYLT is not an outdoor skills course, each participant must have basic camping and outdoor cooking experience.
Have a unit leader recommendation.

Apply for a Scholarship

Apply to Be a Staff Member

Contact

Sal Kikto, Course Director

Krista Kanuch, Course Director

Jess Weaver, Staff Advisor

Steve Ott, NYLT Coordinator

NYLT History

For many years, junior leader training (JLT) was an important part of the leadership training continuum of BSA local councils throughout America. In 2003 and 2004, a task force of leadership experts and hundreds of Scouts in pilot courses across the nation reviewed and tested every aspect of the new NYLT syllabus, which incorporates the latest leadership ideas and presents fresh, vital and meaningful training for today’s Scouts.