Sending a son or daughter to the Naval Academy or to any Service Academy is quite different from sending them off to a regular college or university. Those phone calls parents receive from a new Plebe are not the same kind of phone call that parents of other college students receive. New midshipmen can be very discouraged and afraid that they are not able to live up to the demands placed upon them at the Naval Academy.

Parents Clubs offer a wonderful source of support and encouragement - particularly for the parents of a new Plebe. After their son or daughter has survived Plebe Summer, parents feel more comfortable about their midshipman and can begin to enjoy the pride they feel at having a son or daughter at the Naval Academy. What better way to share these experiences than with other parents who feel the same way.

Over two decades ago, the Candidate Guidance Office at the Naval Academy recognized that the right kind of parental guidance would greatly help to ensure the success of a midshipman. They felt that the development of this guidance could be best accomplished by uniting parents of midshipmen to form a Parents' Club in each state (with larger states divided into smaller areas as needed). The main purpose of a Parents' Club would be for informational guidance and support with a lesser emphasis on social activities. The Naval Academy, the Alumni Association and the midshipmen themselves approved this concept and in 1984 the Superintendent requested the Naval Academy Alumni Association to administer to all Parents' Clubs and they did so willingly. In January 2000, the Parent Program moved to the United States Naval Academy Foundation. Two years later the Foundation recognized a need to expand the existing Parent Program Office and joined with the Alumni Association to form the Parent Program Partnership. Effective January 1, 2002, the coordination and communication for Parents' Clubs falls under the purview of the Alumni Association while the coordination of the annual parent fundraising programs resides with the Foundation. The division of parent program responsibilities is now more aligned with respective misisons and provides for two strong USNA parent representatives.

In April of 1973, under the guidance of Tom Teshara,West Coast Regional Director of the Blue and Gold Program at the Naval Academy, the first Parents' Club was formed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since then, the concept of Parents' Clubs has spread across the country. The Alumni Association now administers to over 75 clubs across the continental United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and an international club in Japan. Many parents gather together with other service academy parents to form joint service academy parents' clubs while other USNA parents' clubs organize joint service academy club events such as annual Holiday Balls or an "All Academies Day" at a local high school.