Mr. Millet founded the squash program at Milton in 1964 after Milton built its first three hard-ball courts; he stewarded its athletes (students and graduates), coaches and facilities through the present day. Mr. Millet launched a tradition of winning and sportsmanship; he coached through 2007, enlisting a number of faculty and graduates as coaching assistants and partners over the years. Through his late 80s Mr. Millet got out on the court nearly daily and in 2006, he defeated Carl Cummings, former Massachusetts Squash Racquets Association president, in a 2.5 Mass SRA league match.
The strong Milton boys’ squash program produced numerous top players and sportsmen over the years. A large number of Milton squash athletes played squash at the collegiate level. Many have played for Ivy League colleges, particularly the top Ivy squash programs of Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
Since its inception, Mr. Millet has been a strong supporter of the girls’ squash program, quietly laying the foundation for growth. He served as a model and mentor for coaches throughout the years. Current girls’ coach Chris Kane remembers that while he responded to an emergency, Mr. Millet took the helm as the girls’ coach during the National Championships at Yale in 2008. Mr. Millet provided a calming presence in the tense and competitive match environment; the girls responded, won the match and finished second in the division.
In 2007, the U.S. Squash Racquets Association and the Massachusetts Squash Racquets Association honored Mr. Millet for his contributions to squash at the junior level by naming one of its four premier tournaments after him, The Frank Millet Junior Championship Tour Event. In 2007, inaugural year of the Millet Junior Championship, Casey S. Cortes ’09 (playing at Princeton today) became the first Miltonian to win a Millet Championship. Cece Cortes ’07 and Yuleissy Ramirez ’11, both Milton squash captains, won a National Championship as teammates at Harvard.
More than two dozen Miltonians have gone on to captain their college teams. A handful of Milton squash alumni have even played at the professional level. Mr. Millet was known to have friendly arguments with legendary Harvard coach Jack Barnaby as to who really taught certain Milton/Harvard players how to play good squash.
Every March, Milton squash alumni make the pilgrimage back to campus from all across the country and the world to play in the “FDM,” Frank Millet’s Graduates’ Invitational Squash Tournament. Trading shots and swapping memories, Mr. Millet’s former players pay homage to the founder of Milton squash. Plaques on the walls of the Milton squash courts list past winners, runners-up and consolation winners of the FDM, “a veritable Who’s Who of U.S. squash,” according to James Zug, writing in Squash Magazine (November, 2006).
“Squash is a life sport. It’s fun,” Mr. Millet said. Fun and success have marked the boys’ and girls’ teams for decades.
