Fr. James Edward Martin
High School Administrator
Detroit Catholic Central - Football Coach (1932 - 1933)
Detroit Catholic Central - Basketball Coach (1933 - 1934)
Detroit Catholic Central - Baseball Coach (1935 - 1949)
Detroit Catholic Central - Athletic Director (1942 - 1949)
Started the Friendship Bowl (Football) with Father Flanagan of Boys Town
Detroit Catholic Central - Basketball Coach (1933 - 1934)
Detroit Catholic Central - Baseball Coach (1935 - 1949)
Detroit Catholic Central - Athletic Director (1942 - 1949)
Started the Friendship Bowl (Football) with Father Flanagan of Boys Town
Fr. James Edward Martin
High School Administrator - Detroit Catholic Central
Fr. James Martin was born in Chatham, New Brunswick, studied at Windsor and Toronto and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1931. He went on to teach and coach at Detroit Catholic Central High for eighteen years. During his tenure at Detroit Catholic Central High School, Fr. Martin was the head coach in football (1932 to 1933), basketball (1933 to 1934) and baseball (1935 to 1949) as well as becoming the first Athletic Director (1942 to 1949) in Catholic Central’s history. His baseball teams won fifteen consecutive Catholic League Championships. Fr. Martin was also the founder of the Boy’s Bowl Football game which began against Fr. Flanagan’s Boys Town team from Omaha, Nebraska. Fr. James Martin was inducted into the Detroit Catholic Central Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, The Detroit Catholic League Hall of Fame in 1978 and was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1978. He passed away on February 3, 1992 at 85 years of age.