USA Maccabi: Sportscene
From the Summer 2002 edition of the USA Maccabi Sportscene Newsletter.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
A few short months ago Ethan Zohn, 28, was living a normal life in New York City. All that changed when CBS aired the last episode of “Survivor Africa” and he was declared the sole survivor.
What began as a joke months earlier, for the out-of-work, Zohn, became a million-dollar windfall.
The 5′10″ hunk was an avid soccer player. He was graduated with a B.A. degree from Vassar College in 1996 where he played varsity soccer for four years. He was the starting goalkeeper on the Massachusetts Olympic Development State Team, for the under 17 year olds, and a four year varsity player for Lexington High School. He was also the goalkeeper for the New England soccer team that competed in 1990 in Detroit at the JCC Maccabi Games.
“I grew up watching my brother, Lee, tend goals,” said Zohn. “He was four years older and I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”
After college, Zohn put himself on a five-year timeframe to make it as a superstar in sports. He went on to play professional soccer for the Hawaii Tsunami in 1997 and for the Highlanders Football Club in Zimbabwe (1999-00). When he played for the Cape Cod Crusaders from 1998-00 he was named to the top five goalkeepers in the nation.
But as his deadline was approaching, Ethan realized that he was not going to be the next Pele. It was time to grow up. He accepted a fulltime job in early 2001 but made sure that he had written into his contract that he could have the month of July off to go to Israel with the United States Maccabiah soccer team. Four years earlier he made his first trip to Israel as a member of the 15th Maccabiah team, playing goalkeeper for the Americans in Israel.
But in March he got caught in a hiring freeze and was left without employment. Trying to make a decision what to do, Ethan’s friends kiddingly suggested that he make a video and submit it to be a contestant on “Survivor.” He did. And after enduring six weeks of interviews, he was accepted as a contestant for Survivor Africa.
Prior to his trip to Africa, Ethan also learned that the soccer competition for the 16th Maccabiah in the summer of 2001 was cancelled, so there was nothing to hold him back.
Ethan arrived in Africa as one of sixteen contestants chosen from a pool of 60,000. Success would depend on the contestants’ abilities to adapt to the harsh environment as well as to each other. Every few days the contestants would gather to vote off the game one of their own. Thirty-nine days after it began, the emotional and physical roller coaster was over. Standing alone and voted the sole survivor was Ethan Zohn, the first-ever Jewish winner.
Winning a million dollars and being inundated with television appearances, interviews, and a long list of people and organizations vying for his time, could change your life. But, not according to Ethan.
“My life hasn’t changed much since I won,” said Ethan. “I had a happy life before and I still have one now. The only difference that I feel is that winning this challenge can open doors for me - ones that will allow me to enhance my passion - soccer.”
“Soccer is my life, my passion,” he added, “and now with my exposure and success, I have a platform and the opportunity to make a difference.”
“I know I want to work with underprivileged children in some way and with soccer - maybe that will be with inner city kids, maybe that will be with the world cup - I don’t know at this time.
“I know I want to be involved with the Maccabiah Games in some way and help out the Maccabi movement anyway I can. I would be honored to help out because it was so important to me.”
Ethan grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. The youngest of three boys, he grew up in a strong, close-knit Jewish family environment. The three boys were always jockeying for position to be the “favorite son” in their mom’s eyes. According to Ethan, “I’m the favorite son now!”
Always proud of his heritage, Ethan found that competing in Maccabi competitions, first in the JCC Games as a teenager and then in the Maccabiah Games in Israel as an adult, was a unique marriage of his love of sports and his heritage.
“The Maccabiah experience was an incredible one for me,” said Ethan. “It was definitely the biggest moment of my soccer career. I loved being in Israel. I had done a lot of reading about the country and it was exactly what I expected it to be.
“Our team stayed in Netanya which was terrific and a lot of fun. I loved the tours and meeting Jews from all over the world. This was the first time I had ever played against all Jewish players and I assumed that the competition wouldn’t be that strong. Boy, was I wrong. I played against some of the best players I had ever played against!”
Reflecting on the competition, even though the US didn’t win a medal, somehow wasn’t as important to Ethan as it usually was. “Typically when you lose a match you walk off the field and stay angry for days,” noted Ethan,” but that didn’t happen here. Here the experience became more important than the actual medal.”
“Even though we lost it was great fun meeting so many new people - it was exciting because we shared a community and a tradition. We had an instant bond and I still keep in contact with many of my teammates from 1997, some of whom are now my closest friends.”
To say that the Maccabiah experience was a pivotal one in Ethan’s life is putting it mildly. When it came to packing for his African adventure, Ethan made sure that a part of his Maccabiah life went with him.
“You know we were limited in what we could bring to Africa. I was only allowed to bring two shirts with me. One of them had to be my Maccabiah tee shirt,” said Ethan. “I cut off the sleeves and put the #1 on the back of my shirt before I left. That was the shirt I wore to every tribal meeting for luck.”
What was the significance of the number and the shirt?
“To me the number was important because I am a competitor and I want to win,” added Zohn. “But, putting the number on the Maccabiah shirt carried the support and friendship of an even larger tribe than my African one - it had the love and support of the twelve tribes of Judaism and the Maccabiah family.”
Footnote: Because of his personal achievement in winning the Survivor challenge, Ethan is able to “make a difference” and give back. Zohn has established a non-profit organization to foster AIDS/HIV awareness in Zimbabwe through the nation’s pro soccer players. Mazel Tov!