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How to Start a Troop

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The Girl Scout Promise

On my honor, I will try:

To serve God* and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law

* The word "God" can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one's spiritual beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word "God" with whatever word your spiritual beliefs dictate.

The Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be
   honest and fair,
   friendly and helpful,
   considerate and caring,
   courageous and strong, and
   responsible for what I say and do,
and to
   respect myself and others,
   respect authority,
   use resources wisely,
   make the world a better place, and
   be a sister to every Girl Scout.

Thinking of starting a troop? We’ll take out the guesswork. Follow these 10 steps and you’ll be on your way to providing opportunities that girls want and experiences that change lives!

To get back to this page, just remember www.GirlScoutsNorCal.org/newleader
or click here to bookmark this page!

  1. Take the Girl Scouting 101 (45 min.)

    Also, get started RIGHT away on the volunteer screening process. 
  1. Call or email your Community Development Director

3.  Go to your Welcome Session and sign your position description agreement (30 min.). One adult per troop must attend, however co-leaders or co-op troop leaders are also welcome.

4.  Connect with your service unit after you receive notification of your volunteer screening clearance.  Get a troop number from your Service Unit Registrar, and notify your Service Unit Treasurer that you will be opening a bank account. 

5.  Register as a member of Girl Scouts of the USA Your CDD or volunteer will give you the registration materials at your welcome session. Additional materials can be downloaded here.

6.  Take Getting Started (2 hours) and Take Staying Safe (1 hour)

7.  Begin to build your troop/group.  Check with your service unit to see if you can take girls from the waiting list, advertise through school newsletters, and talk with parents to generate interes.  Hold a parent meeting.

8.  Register all girls and adult volunteers.  Follow directions in "How To Register Your Troop" that you received at your Welcome Session. 

9.  Make plans and hold first troop/group meeting.  Start having some fun!

10.  Take advantage of other learning opportunities and attend service unit meetings.  

At least one adult present at every troop/group meeting or outing must have completed the entire core leadership series: Girl Scouting 101, Getting Started, and Safety-Wise.

It is recommended that the leadership series be taken in order: Girl Scouting 101, Getting Started, and Staying Safe.

Ratios for adult supervision as noted in the Council Resource Guide on page 16 must be observed.

Beyond the Basics

Once you’ve finished the basics and completed your first few meetings, you’ll probably want to branch out into other fun and exciting activities; Want to take your brownies on their first overnight camping trip or learn how to advise a group of teenagers? Additional adult learning courses may be needed for certain activities. We also offer some optional classes for enriching your Girl Scout activities.

Click here to view the Adult Learning Course Requirement Table