Youth can join Scouts BSA if they are at least 10 years old, currently in the fifth grade and register on or after March 1st; OR have earned the Arrow of Light Award and are at least 10 years old, OR are age 11 but have not reached age 18. The troop currently enrolls new youth for our Firsties program which begins in early March. First-come-first-serve registration opens in the fall, and the troop hosts recruiting events and open houses to give you an opportunity to get to know us.
If you're interest in joining our spring 2026 cohort, please subscribe to our [low-traffic!] announcement list.
We are organizing three recruiting events this autumn. Please consider attending all of them — we hope they will enable you to:
get to know us in the troop!
learn about how cool Scouting is for youth in fifth grade and older
learn more about what makes our T33 program unique amongst local troops
observe our programming directly
The three events below are for both prospective scouts and their parents to attend (i.e., these are not drop-off events). In some of the events we'll have parallel parent-oriented programming/Q&A.
Please RSVP for each event you intend to attend. Use this Google form once for each RSVP — and please note the deadlines associated with each. We’ll update the website with additional information as we get closer to the events.
Sunday 9/14, 3-6 pm, Cuesta Park, Mountain View
Non-scouts and AOL scouts can get a taste for what the T33 Scouting program is like. We'll have an orienteering course, pioneering, eat some tasty food, and organize fun group games.
Please RSVP by Saturday 9/6, so we can finalize activities and plan appropriately for food.
Tuesday 9/30, 7:30-9 pm, Los Altos United Methodist Church, Creekside room
Scouts will get a taste of what a typical meeting is like. We will not hold a formal program for prospective parents, however after check-in we'll have a few T33 adults available for an informal Q&A.
Please RSVP by Sunday 9/29, so we can be prepared to welcome you.
Tuesday, October 28, 7:30-9 pm, Los Altos United Methodist Church, Creekside room
Your scouts will spend most of the evening in our Firsties program, with fun activities designed to engage scouts and help them with skills for the first few scout ranks (Tenderfoot, Second, First Class). Concurrently, we'll host prospective parents in an adjacent conference room where we'll share a detailed presentation on the troop, our programs, and host an extended Q&A.
Please RSVP by Sunday 10/26, so we can be prepared to welcome you.
We’d love to get to know you! We’ve recently had a lot of fun launching bottle rockets, judging pinewood derby designs, and running a bike rodeo at local pack meetings. Send a short email to recruiting@troop33.org with the logistics of your event and we will follow up with you.
Please make sure you’ve carefully read material on this website, including the introductory slides above, which explain many aspects of what makes our troop unique. Below are the tasks you must complete to register for Troop 33. Please complete them all and expect confirmation from the troop. These can all be handled electronically.
Have a Google-backed (most commonly @gmail.com) account for your child and all parents/guardians. The Troop 33 members website is access controlled using Google authentication to prevent the general public from viewing it. If you or your scout don't already have a Google-backed account, you can set one up at accounts.google.com/signup.
Pay $195 via PayPal to Troop 33. Go to paypal.me/bsatroop33, and pay $195 to secure your spot. Please note in the description of the payment “2026 Firstie / your_scout’s_full_name” so we can match it up with your other form submissions.
Registration form for youth. Fill out this form so we know your scout’s contact information. If they’re currently a Cub Scout, we’ll collect some additional information about that too.
Registration form for parent/guardian. Fill out this form multiple times, for each parent/guardian.
Await confirmation from the troop. Once we verify your submissions, we will confirm you have successfully registered. (It might take the recruiting coordinator volunteer a week or two to catch up — please be patient!). You’ll receive an introductory email, and we will add you to our mailing list, which will enable you to view the members-only portion of the website.
[Optional, but strongly encouraged] Join the 2026 Firsties WhatsApp Group. Follow the instructions in the introductory email to join the informal conversation chat group.