What does it take to get a field named after a person? Impact and a lasting legacy are some of the qualities to do so. Since its construction in 1973, Foran has had many people who have made a large impact within the school, town, and state.
The baseball field is named after Mr. Ken Walker, who was the baseball coach from 1986-2003 and 2011-2012.
Over his two decades of coaching, Ken Walker coached baseball teams that made the state tournament nearly every year, which, before Walker, wasn’t consistently done.
Walker’s son and current head coach Mr. Garrett Walker, states, “He brought consistency every year he was the coach, you knew what to expect from any one of his teams.”
In 2005, Foran was granted a brand new baseball field since its previous one did not have proper drainage. In 2013, it was officially named Ken Walker Field. G. Walker follows in the footsteps of his father by entering his eleventh year as head coach.
Recently, another field was added to the Vito DeVito sports complex. A turf softball field, named in memory of Danielle “Danni” Kemp, was completed in 2020. Milford allocated one million dollars for this field to be constructed, according to nhregister.com.
Danni Kemp was a former student at Foran High School who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). After battling cancer for several months, she passed away on March 10, 2017, at 19 years old.
Kemp left her mark by being named an all-state softball player in 2013 and 2014.
In addition to the Danielle Kemp Memorial Field, her legacy lives on through Dash for Danni, an annual 5K or 3.1-mile race that takes place at Foran.
Mr. Vito DeVito, Foran’s first athletic director, is the name behind the athletic compound, the Vito DeVito Sports Complex. DeVito was honored in 1986 when the complex was dedicated to his legacy in Milford.
In addition to teaching at both Foran and Jonathan Law, he was also the football coach at Law as well as the athletic director. DeVito played a vital role in establishing the athletic programs at both schools.
The gymnasium is named after and called the Edna L. Fraser Gymnasium. She was honored with the name change shortly after her retirement in 1992.
Fraser started teaching at Milford High School and then went to Foran, becoming the second athletic director.
As athletic director, she created the female athletic programs. Fraser coached softball, girls’ volleyball, and girls’ basketball and went on to win the National Coach of the Year award for softball.
Foran Athletic Director Anthony Vitelli says, “The biggest thing she did was her impact on female athletics, not just in Milford or the state, but nationally.”
Playing a huge part in supporting female athletes both in and out of Foran, Fraser believed females should be given the same opportunities as male athletes. Fraser paved the way for the future of women’s sports not just locally but nationally.
“She was a pioneer in the Title IX movement,” Vitelli adds.
The athletic fields and our gymnasium help build a culture around the school, and create a social environment for students. The names behind the facilities set a precedent on who students should strive to be.
