Remember in The Sandlot when the Babe Ruth ball lands over the fence into the Beast’s yard?
Summer screeches to a halt. Smalls, Benny, Ham, Squints and the rest of the crew stand there knowing what’s on the other side.
They’ve heard the stories. They know there’s some risk.
But they also know they have to get it back.
So they start scheming. Building contraptions. Coming up with increasingly elaborate plans. All summer, they’re working this problem themselves. Kids figuring stuff out.
Meanwhile, it’s just hours of pickup baseball, sleeping out in treehouses, and pretty much living summer to the fullest.
The Sandlot might be the best way to explain what your kid’s summer at camp actually feels like.
Two Versions of Summer Freedom
80s and 90s movies had basically two models of childhood freedom.
There’s Stand By Me, where kids are genuinely in danger. Bullies out for blood. No adults anywhere. Dodging trains. Looking for a dead body in the woods.
Great movie. Definitely not safe.
Then there’s The Sandlot.
Kids seemingly running wild all summer. Getting up to stuff that would maybe make parents a tad nervous if they knew all the details, even if it is all totally innocent.
Going after the ball in the Beast’s yard. Playing from sun-up until the streetlights come on.
But in all the situations, even when Hercules is chasing them through the neighborhood, it’s never actually dangerous.
Always adults within earshot. The lifeguard is watching. Someone’s mom is home.
It feels unsupervised to the kids. But it’s fundamentally safe.
That’s camp.
What Doesn’t Exist Anymore
That Sandlot kind of summer is getting tougher to find in neighborhoods, though if you’re neighborhood is rocking this way, let me know because I’d love to see it.
Kids aren’t roaming free all day. Not organizing a ton of pickup. Not as much feeling of being in their own world while adults exist somewhere in the background, trusted but not necessarily hovering.
Camp might be one of the last places where this still happens.
We want kids at camp get to feel like they’re living in The Sandlot (even if they’ve never seen the movie).
Rocking sports and activities, making friends, trying stuff that might feel a bit risky (think high ropes or water skiing).
But the whole thing is held by a structure they can’t quite see.
Systems designed for safety run by people who actually care how your kid’s summer goes.
That gap between what kids experience and what you need to trust? That’s the whole thing.
The K&E Difference
Here’s what makes this work at K&E specifically: your kid gets the Sandlot freedom plus something those kids in the movie didn’t have. Older counselors who actually care about them as individuals.
Not just watching from afar. Actually invested.
Learning their names on day one.
Noticing when something might be a bit off.
Celebrating when they 100% nail the thing they’ve been working on all week.
It’s honestly the best of both worlds.
The independence kids crave and the mentorship they need.
What This Looks Like
Why This Matters
If you’ve been to camp, you know it’s tough to explain it to people who’ve never been. Even videos and pics don’t fully capture what it feels like.
The Sandlot gets it.
Because what your kid experiences at camp isn’t just activities and meals and evening activities. It’s the feeling of belonging to something. Of being trusted. Of having friends who become like family over seven weeks.
The right amount of freedom held inside the right amount of safety.
The kind of summer you remember from your own childhood, even if you never actually had it quite like this.
The Bottom Line
We’re basically trying to run The Sandlot. But with better sunscreen policies, a bit more focus on hydration, and a schedule that gets printed out in the AM.
But your kid still gets to feel like they’re in their own world. And you still get to know they’re actually safe.
When that metaphorical ball goes over the fence, when your kid faces something that feels huge to them, they’ll have their crew. They’ll scheme. They’ll figure it out.
All while a team of counselors who genuinely care is ready if needed, but mainly just letting summer be summer.
So if someone asks what camp is like, I might just say, “You’re killing me, Smalls. It’s The Sandlot. That’s what we’re going for.”
You got this,
Jack
PS - Everyone who enrolls by Nov 1st will get this hoodie, yes that includes everyone who is currently enrolled.
Start summer here!
PPS - I live to talk camp. If we haven’t had a chance to catch up, let’s do that.
Calendly link to schedule.