Education, Sports and Fun Camps (ESF) is a network of summer day camps. ESF operates 60+ different camps at 12 ESF Camp locations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Florida. ESF is described by

Philadelphia Magazine ''Philadelphia'' (also called "''Philadelphia'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "Phillymag", once called ''Greater Philadelphia'') is a regional monthly magazine published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the Lipson family of Philadelphia ...

as the "gold standard of summer day camps."

History

ESF was founded by brothers Michael and Bill Rouse in 1982 as a two-week summer tennis camp at the

Haverford School , motto_translation = , address = 450 Lancaster Avenue , location = , region = , city = Haverford , county = , state = Pennsylvania , ...

. Michael, who was 15 at the time, needed to raise $3,200 to play in the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

National Tournament. In 2019, the Aspen Institute recognized ESF as a Project Play Champion at the institute's annual Project Play Summit.

Activities

In total, ESF has more than 60 different camps at their 10 locations. They offer traditional day camp options such as Mini Camp, Day Camp, and Senior Camp which offer options including art, music, science and sports. However, ESF also has specialty camp options including Tennis Camp, Specialty Major Camps, SportsLab powered by

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European head ...

and Tech Camps. ESF works with many organizations including the

Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo, located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, is the first true zoo in the United States. It was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its openin ...

, the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

for their camp programming. They also work with many sports teams including the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia 76ers, Arsenal F.C., and

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

to offer specialty sports experiences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ESF Camps Summer camps in Pennsylvania Summer camps in Maryland Summer camps in Connecticut Summer camps in New Jersey Summer camps in Florida