Schools
Whiz Kid: Frank Legere
While Frank Legere and his family had a difficult week off the field, he got a lot of support from his Big Blue football family on the field.
When Frank Legere was a little boy, his grandfather, Howard Lord, would take him out in the backyard and toss him every kind of ball until Frank would pick one he liked, and they’d work on that one.
“He spent a lot of time with me, he was a very good man,” Frank said.
Howard Lord passed away this past week at age 91, and Thursday afternoon Frank said he was dedicating the rest of the football season to his grandfather.
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Friday night, he left his Grampy’s wake and scored the first touchdown of the game, in a 28-7 win by the Big Blue over Salem.
The offensive line told Legere they’d get him to the safety, and the rest was up to him. Legere hit the hole and blasted by the Salem defender to put the Big Blue on the board.
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After Nick Meninno scored later in the game, a member of the Swampscott coaching staff took Legere and Meninno out on the field and pointed to an empty section of the stands at Salem’s Bertram Field and said Frank’s grandfather, and Nick’s grandmother were sitting up there together. Meninno lost his grandmother Oct. 16. She was 74.
Legere missed the early part of the football season with a head injury, but has jumped right into a potent Swampscott offense that’s making opponent’s heads spin. The team is 6-1, bouncing back from a loss to Malden with Friday night’s league win over the Witches.
Legere, a senior at Swampscott High, made the NEC All-Stars last spring as an outfielder for the Big Blue baseball team. Legere hopes to go to UConn, Roger Williams College or another small school and play baseball after leaving SHS.
Legere is the treasurer of the International Relations Committee, getting ready for a big trip to Philadelphia in January. Legere is an honor roll student and loves math and “working with numbers.” Frank is also a big fan of history class, and hopes to someday have a government job.
“I’m really interested in law, law enforcement and homeland security,” Legere said.
Frank lives on Burpee Road with his family, his dad, Dave, is a teacher in the Swampscott school system.
“My dad’s been a big influence on me, he’s helped me and always had the right bit of advice when I needed it,” Frank said.
How about the Big Blue football team?
“We’ve got a really good team, we’re very close, we know if we work hard we’ll be successful on the field,” Legere said. “I want to play baseball in college, so this might be it for me in football, so I’m really focused on giving my best effort this season, you’ve got one game a week to perform.”
The Big Blue (6-1) are 1-0 in league play with four games, all league games, left on the schedule.
Legere likes to grab a Lime Rickey with his friends at the Red Rock when he’s not on the field or working out to get ready for baseball and football.
“I helped coach the 12 year-old All-Stars last summer and that was a great experience,” Legere said. “One of my favorite memories from growing up in town was winning the Little League championship under the lights when I played for the Athletics.”
“I was very close to my grandfather, when he lived on Norfolk Avenue I would usually stop by his house every day after school,” Frank said.
Howard Lord had six children, thirteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, he was buried over the weekend in Swampscott Cemetery.
