He is the NLL's all-time leading scorer and also a mathematics teacher at Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Tavares played his entire National Lacrosse League (NLL) career with the Buffalo Bandits, starting in their inaugural season in 1992.

On that night, the Buffalo Bandits played their 7th regular season game again hosting the Minnesota Swarm, and Tavares scored two points in an 11–8 loss.

Tavares' teams have won seven Mann Cups, 1992 and 1993 with the Brampton Excelsiors, 1994 through 1996 with the Six Nations Chiefs, 2002 with the Victoria Shamrocks, and 2012 with the Peterborough Lakers.

In 1992, 1993, and 1996, Tavares won the Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy as most valuable player in the Mann Cup competition.