Well considering we had 18 young players out on loan last season, I'd say that it's not an assumption. People will come and watch them and then make a decision, we then decide if we want to loan them, we don't force clubs to take them claiming they're amazing. In the case of players going to local sides, we tend to have some form of connection to the club and they're happy to take them because these lads are wanting to play men's football.
The general consensus at the club is that the U23s league is a bit **** and the lads gain far more experience playing men's football where there's actually a competitive element, the U23s calendar often has gaps too which means some of them go weeks without a game. In terms of development, it's far better to be playing and learning than it is to be having a relative kickabout against Crewe reserves.
I always thought it would be a good idea to enter a reserve team into the Humber Premier League (and just not have them get promoted), but I don't think it's allowed, which is odd because at the same level there are other non-league reserve teams across the country.
EDIT: Just looked at the rules, reserve teams can go no higher than Step 6 (which is the Northern Counties East League Division One - the same one that Beverley Town play in now/Ferriby just got promoted out of), but there doesn't appear to be a rule that states a club from the football league can't have a reserve team in non-league.