James R. Hulsman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 23, 1930. He came to New Mexico in 1940 and attended Albuquerque Public Schools. He lettered in football and graduated from Albuquerque High in 1949. Hulsman attended the College of St. Joseph, where he played one year of basketball after returning from military duty. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education from the University of New Mexico in 1959.
Hulsman then began coaching baseball, basketball, and football at Highland High School (1957/58 and 1958/59). He coached at Washington Jr. High in 1959, then at Harrison Jr. High in 1960. Starting in 1961, Hulsman coached cross country, football, basketball, and track at Albuquerque High School. He coached at Albuquerque High School for forty one years, the longest tenure of any coach in Albuquerque. Hulsman holds the record for the most wins in Albuquerque after thirty-four seasons as head coach. He took his team to twenty-four New Mexico State tournaments and won seven State titles. He served as Director of Athletics for twenty- two years and was on the basketball staff for seven years as an assistant before becoming head coach for thirty four years. Additionally, Hulsman was head coach for track for eight years and assistant coach in football for ten years. On October 8, 2003, Hulsman retired with a 660-223 record at Albuquerque High School.
– Description from the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections James Hulsman Albuquerque High School Sports History Collection Finding Aid. This also contains more information on Hulsman, as well as the list of physical collection holdings.
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Jim Hulsman Storyfile Interactive Interview
James R. Hulsman
To access the interactive Storyfile interview with James (Jim) Hulsman click the link on the right side of the page. Mr. Hulsman will respond to your questions, sharing information about his life and his athletic career. Questions can be asked verbally by enabling the device microphone, or type a question in the provided box. He will then answer the question which can be heard on the device speaker. There are also hints on left side of the screen for general topics to ask and question prompts.