ABQ Sports and Leisure

Albuquerque Athletes

Noted Albuquerque Athletes

 
Johnny Tapia (1967–2012), boxing
The Unser Family, auto racing

Bobby, Big Al, Little Al, Joe, Jerry, and Mary. 

Unser Collection @ Museum of American Speed

John Baker (1944-1970), running
Trent Dimas, gymnastics

The first American gymnast of Latino heritage to win an Olympic gold medal.

For mentions of more Albuquerque athletes, check out Richard Melzer's Legendary Locals of Albuquerque.

Defunct teams

Defunct Local Teams

Gone, but not forgotten!

Baseball: Albuquerque Dukes
Hockey: New Mexico Scorpions
Women's Football: New Mexico Menace
Soccer: Albuquerque Asylum
Indoor Soccer: New Mexico Chiles

a.k.a. Albuquerque Outlaws, Albuquerque Gunners, New Mexico Roadrunners

Basketball: Albuquerque Thunderbirds, New Mexico Slam, Albuquerque Silvers

Items in Special Collections?

History of Local Sports

Albuquerque and New Mexico have a long history of athletic competition, and we have a bevy of resources focusing on local sports history in the library catalog to prove it. Many of these titles are only available at our Special Collections branch  -  items at Special Collections are for library use only, so stop by and take a look at them! If it's a "vertical file," that's a collection of clippings and ephemera about the topic.