Avon, MA: Half of D.W. Field, Thirteen Minutes
Avon is a small town on Route 28 between Randolph and Brockton, and nearly half of one of the region’s oldest big parks sits inside its lines. It is also seven miles from the Canton gym, which makes it one of the easier drives in the set.
Seven miles, thirteen minutes
From Avon Town Hall at 65 East Main Street it is 6.8 miles and about 13 minutes to Canton, out East Main Street and across to Route 138. Raynham is 18.5 miles and roughly 24 minutes down Route 24 and Route 44. From Avon Middle-High School on West Main Street the Canton figure is 6.1 miles and about 12 minutes.
Clear-road figures from OpenStreetMap routing. East Main Street to Route 138 is the route, and the last two miles are the same road the gym sits on. Avon is small enough that where you start in town changes the number by a minute or two and changes nothing else at all.
D.W. Field Park, half in Avon
D.W. Field Park is one of the oldest large parks in the region, and the town’s own page is candid about the arrangement: nearly half of the park is in Avon, but the City of Brockton has responsibility for it. Avon residents are active users, and the town has been working with partners on plans for the park’s north end and on a trail feasibility study covering the whole property.
That is a real local fact and a slightly awkward one, and it is worth saying plainly because it explains something about Avon: the town’s biggest open space is shared. What Avon does have of its own is a park and recreation commission that runs a summer program open to Avon residents and surrounding communities, out of 65 East Main Street, and a youth sports scene that runs through Avon Little League and the ACES coalition.
Avon Middle-High, and one school for the whole run
Kids’ classes at Canton run Monday through Thursday: 5 PM for 3 to 5, 5:30 for 6 to 9, 6:15 for 10 to 13. One band per class, so a four-year-old is never in with the ten-year-olds.
The park’s north end, including Old Pond, has had a design study done on it and the town has been pushing for trail improvements across the property. It is a park on its way up rather than one being let go.
What Canton runs for adults
Four evenings and a Saturday morning: jiu-jitsu on Tuesday and Thursday at 6, no-gi grappling on Monday and Wednesday at 7 with Saturday at 11, kickboxing on Monday and Wednesday at 6 and Tuesday and Thursday at 7, and open mat at noon on Saturday. Adult classes are an hour, and the room is small enough that the coach knows what you did last week.
Raynham is the bigger schedule if you want it: jiu-jitsu at 11 AM and 6 or 7 PM on weekdays plus weekend mornings, no-gi most mornings at 10 and 6 AM three days a week, kickboxing Tuesday and Thursday at 11 and Friday at 5, women’s jiu-jitsu Sunday at 9, and marathon classes Thursday and Friday nights. It is 24 minutes from Avon, so it is a Saturday habit for most people rather than a weeknight one.
What an Avon week looks like
Tuesday and Thursday jiu-jitsu at 6 PM, with Saturday open mat at noon when the week allows. That is two and a half hours a week plus a drive that is shorter than most people’s commute. The people who train more than that are usually the ones who added a morning class at Raynham on a day off, and that is a reasonable way to use the membership.
Which gym, on which night
Canton is the weeknight gym from Avon at about 13 minutes, and Raynham is the one for a Saturday when you want the bigger room, the 10 AM jiu-jitsu class and a longer session. The membership covers both, so this is not a decision you have to get right the first time. Most Avon people start at Canton, add a Saturday at Raynham, and end up using both depending on the week.
The first visit
Start with the free intro: 15 minutes, a look around, how the classes and the membership work, and a short lesson on the mat. Come in shorts and a T-shirt.
How to start from Avon
Fill in the form with a program, a location and a number that rings. Somebody calls you back to book it. Canton 781-499-8302, Raynham 508-219-0418.
Avon is small enough that the town’s own website is short too, and there is no padding on this one. The facts are the park, the school, the summer program and thirteen minutes on Route 138. The rest is whether you show up.
Thirteen minutes, and a room that runs four nights a week. That is the whole pitch.