The Ethan Falkowitz Foundation and Sportime Roslyn hosted its first-ever Be MorE THAN Tennis Classic to honor the Roslyn High School tennis star, who an alleged drunk driver killed in May of 2023.
Falkowitz and Drew Haddenbein were both eighth-graders who made the starting lineup of the Roslyn High School Tennis team. While traveling back from a tennis match with two older teammates, a suspected drunk driver fatally struck them. Fourteen-year-old Ethan and Drew both died in the accident.
To honor Ethan’s memory, the Falkowitz family started The Ethan Falkowitz Foundation to carry on Ethan’s passions, tennis and kindness.
“Ethan took to tennis very early. It’s a sport where he realized, ‘I don’t have to be the strongest or most talented one out there. I can just work on my own skills and become good at this.’ Tennis was such an important part of his life,” Ethan’s father, Gary Falkowitz, said. “So we decided to focus the foundation on two really important aspects of his life, to introduce tennis to children and to spread kindness.”
To help spread kindness through the community, the Ethan Falkowitz Foundation began The E Pledge.
The E Pledge is a powerful tool for students to learn about the far-reaching impact of their actions and the importance of being compassionate human beings.
“Ethan was a tremendous, tremendous young man. He was a straight-A student, and he was a great tennis player. But as a human being, he was just kind, thoughtful, helpful, interested, and determined,” Gary said. “Ethan figured out how to speak to others, work hard, set goals, smile and laugh, and help others.”
The Ethan Falkowitz Foundation’s E Pledge honors Ethan’s memory by bringing his kindness and compassion to the Roslyn School District and a couple of dozen participating schools nationwide.
“We have created a PDF and presentation with activities for the schools to use. Then the students sign a pledge that prioritizes kindness,” Gary said. “When I have spoken at the Roslyn School District, I said to them, ‘Ethan was born with a superpower, and all of you were born with the same superpower. But he chose to use it every day, and that superpower is kindness.”
Ethan’s love for tennis and thoughtfulness inspired many around him, like Sportime Port Washington director Jay Harris.
Harris said he was one of Ethan’s coaches at Sportime since he was around six years old. He has gotten to know the Falkowitz family over the years and knew he wanted to get Sportime involved with them since the tragedy occurred in May 2023.
“We wanted to really do it in the right way and kind of give some time to figure out how to create something that would be done in the spirit of who we felt Ethan was as a person,” Harris said. “We wanted to create this event that Ethan would enjoy being a part of and being a part of helping people love tennis the way that he loves tennis.”
Over 100 kids participated in the event, which featured waves of doubles matches broken into age groups. Kids aged 11 to 16 and then kids five to 10 played rounds in a competitive style.
It was a great turnout. Some of Ethan’s friends and schoolmates came. Players from all over Long Island, the city and some from the Hamptons came to be a part of the event,” Harris said. “We had coaches on every court coaching and getting them to love the game.”
In addition, Sportime Roslyn dedicated one of the courts and a bench in the facility to Ethan’s memory. Plaques honoring Ethan are displayed on the wall near the court and at the front of the building.
Sportime also gave Sportime scholarships to two players at the event, both of whom donated in Ethan’s name.
“Ethan grew up playing tennis at Sportime Roslyn. He’s had nothing but tremendous role models there. He’s had amazing memories and I’ve had amazing memories with him there,” Gary said. “To have the opportunity to introduce tennis to children that have never played before, to have the opportunity to talk about Ethan and how we could all be more like the way Ethan was, and the whole sentiment of that was an honor.”
Sportime hopes to make the Be MorE THAN Tennis Classic an annual event, Harris said.
“The continual community support for the families of Ethan and Drew from the beginning has been incredible,” Harris said. “I’ve been so inspired by how the community steps up to support these families. We’re excited to be able to create this inaugural Be MorE THAN Tennis Classic.”
