Drew Hassenbein, a 14 year-old tennis player from East Hills, New York, tragically lost his life recently at the hands of an alleged drunk driver, and his devastated family is asking for the public’s help in creating a charitable organization in his name to help bring the young man’s love of tennis to the less fortunate.
Drew’s family has set up a GoFundMe page in the late Roslyn High School tennis prodigy’s honor which has already raised nearly $5,000 of its $250,000 goal. The page reads as follows:
“On May 3, 2023, at the young age of 14, Drew Hassenbein was killed when a drunk driver struck the car he was in coming back from a tennis celebration. The Roslyn High School tennis team was celebrating a huge victory where Drew won his match at first singles. Even though Drew was a nationally-ranked boys player, nothing meant more to him than being a part of the Roslyn tennis community and being with his friends.
Our family is devastated by his loss and is so appreciative of the incredible outpouring of support and people’s desire to help. A 5013c is in the process of being set up, but we have created this page in the meantime to honor Drew’s passion for tennis and make a difference in the tennis community. Our goal is to expose underprivileged kids to tennis by providing lessons and scholarships to help the next USA Tennis champion reach their dream. Drew was a former #1 nationally-ranked boys player in the 12s, and with your help, Drew’s love of tennis will live on and help develop the next champion. Please help however you can.”
Drew – who had played tennis since he was 5-years-old after being introduced to the sport by his father – was a national player in the 14-and-under ranks, and had been ranked as high as No. 1 in the U.S. at 12-and-under. He had previously been given the honor of conducting the coin toss at the 2021 Men’s U.S. Open Final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens.
