Jim Murray

With 41 years of coaching at Avon High School, including 38 as the Girls Varsity Soccer head coach, it would be impossible to fully quantify the impact Jim Murray has had on the thousands of athletes he has worked with.

Choosing to hang up his whistle after the completion of the 2023 soccer season, Jim has amassed an amazing set of accomplishments for himself and the girls soccer program that may never be replicated, most notably:

• 464 wins that include 7 NCCC league championships and 5 state championships

• 10 State championship appearances between 1990 and 2014 across Class S, M, and L

• Qualifying for the State Tournament in 35 of his 38 years on the sideline, with 21 of those trips resulting in the team advancing to the Quarterfinals or beyond

• 3 undefeated seasons in 2001, 2002, and 2003, leading to a 64 game unbeaten streak (61—0—3)

Helping lead the program to these levels of success, Jim has earned regular recognition throughout his coaching career. Among the awards, Jim was named CT Coach of the Year in 1993, 2002, and 2011. With the sustained success Coach Murray found, he also received National Coaching recognition, first in 2002 when he was selected as a Coach of the Year Finalist and then in 2009, when he was ultimately selected as the National Girls Soccer Coach of the Year by the National High School Coaches Athletic Association.

While most widely known for his contributions to the girls soccer program, Coach Murray poured his passion and commitment into other Falcon sports. His tenure as a coach and leader included stints with the boys soccer program (3 years), boys basketball program (5 years), both the boys and girls track teams (3 years each), and the Ultimate Frisbee Club program, a passion that he worked with the student athletes to build from the ground up and one that resulted in a State Championship for that program and Avon High School in 2015!