Teacher, Coach, Advocate, Jim Taft ended his thirty-seven-year career in the place it started: Avon Public Schools. A 1972 graduate of Central Connecticut State University, Jim was immediately hired by Avon as a physical education teacher, working at both Avon middle and high schools. His coaching career began that same year when he was tapped to be the Avon High School Assistant Football Coach, a position he held for fourteen years.

Jim’s athletic versatility was rewarded with other coaching assignments, as well – golf, track, and girls’ gymnastics through the school system, and tennis through the town Parks & Recreation department. He may well have coached more sports than any coach in Avon history.

In 1978, Jim took on the job that would come to define him: Avon Boys Varsity Basketball Coach, a role he cherished. For twenty-four years and beyond, the name “Coach Taft” was synonymous with Avon Basketball. His stats reflect his commitment and accomplishments:

Overall record, 364-142 | State Championship, 1988 | Eight NCCC Championships | State Sportsmanship Award, 1992 | Coach of the Year, 2002 Elected member of CIAC Basketball Committee, 1990-2002

Coach Taft’s players went on to excel as student-athletes in college; some went on to coach. They remember him as tough, fair, devoted. In 2004, an award was named in Jim’s honor – the Taft Trophy – which recognizes the winner of the annual Avon-Farmington rivalry game.

When he’s not escaping to Melbourne Beach, Florida in the cold winters, Jim still lives in Avon with his wife, Donna, a retired K-5 teacher, in the house where they raised their children Kathryn and Michael (who played for his dad.)