Ian Fraunfelder joins the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) as the new athletic director. Chris Langevin stepped down from the role last year and former AD Sue Duprat served as interim director.
Fraunfelder grew up in Walpole, New Hampshire, and attended Northfield Mount Hermon for high school. He graduated from Colby-Sawyer College in 2002 with a BS in Exercise and Sport Sciences with a specialization in Sport Management. He and his family just relocated to Warren from Spofford, New Hampshire. His favorite sports team is the Boston Bruins.
“In high school I played soccer, ice hockey and track. In college I played club ice hockey and ran track (pole vaulted). After college I was a ski instructor, coached field hockey, indoor and outdoor track, and ice hockey. I spent the last 14 years at Bellows Falls Union High School in Westminster, VT, as athletic/activities director and this year at Harwood will be my 15th year as an athletic director,” Fraunfelder said.
“When I was in high school, I just wanted to get into coaching. Being at a private high school you are with the teachers/staff/coaches all of the time. You got to know the coaches beyond the few hours a day at practice or in the classroom you spent with them. They had such a positive impact on my experience I wanted to do the same for others. After a few years of coaching, I wanted to have the same impact on kids but to a bigger population. That is when I became an athletic director. Now, instead of an individual team, I can hopefully have an impact on a school. Part of that impact is how to deal with situations you may not deal with in a classroom. Things like working with people you may not like or get along with but need to work together, how to lose and learn and grow from that experience, time management, taking instruction from someone and applying it to get better, how to perform under pressure, accountability, and healthy life habits. In short, a lot of skills needed in life are learned and developed while doing co-curriculars, not just athletics. What I am looking forward to most in the role here at Harwood is getting to know the students and being involved with the wide array of activities they will be involved with.”
