Patrick, 14

ESF Episcopal

 Whether your camper has discovered a new interest, met a new friend, bonded with a counselor or considered ESF a home away from home, every summer has a story. 

 “Patrick is an athlete – playing basketball, running track, and keenly focused on soccer. He’s the kind of kid who throws himself into a team atmosphere. When he first came to ESF, he started in Sports Camp, but we were looking for something more focused to cross-train him for the soccer season. The great thing about ESF is that you can do something different from week to week, so we decided to sign him up for Tennis Camp for one week.

He immediately fell in love with it.

Once Patrick tried Tennis Camp for the first time, he knew that’s where he wanted to spend his entire summer. The coaches were so skilled and attentive in teaching him the techniques, the rules, the strokes, that he began developing into a real tennis player. He looked up to his coaches, and he came home talking about them every day. They were who he wanted to be – incredible, confident players. They encouraged him to improve and to push his abilities while making it fun at the same time.

Tennis is as much a mental game as a physical game, and the coaches used every challenge, every loss, and even every win as a learning opportunity. At the beginning of the day, players came to court with a tennis racket in their hands and nothing else. There were no cell phones, no electronics, nothing to pull their attention away from the game. This helped them form relationships with other campers so they could work together as doubles partners, accept losses and win gracefully.

Each day became a test in resiliency as Patrick practiced overcoming frustrations. If he was upset about a match, he needed to deal with it, let his ego take a back seat, shake his opponent’s hand and move on. I now see this character trait of resiliency carrying over into his life off of the court. There are subjects that he struggles with academically, and instead of getting upset I’ve seen him start to push through to work smarter and get the help he needs.

Patrick had never played tennis before coming to ESF, but after four summers of training, he’s about to join his high school tennis team this spring. Without ESF, he may have never found this passion.”

-Wendy, ESF Episcopal parent

This summer, let us be a part of your story.