Girls' referee O'Tormey displays dedication to basketball

Odds are that people probably aren't going to notice Maureen O'Tormey on the basketball floor.

She's fine with that. In fact, the PIAA basketball official thinks that means she is doing her job.

"My goal is to be invisible on the court," O'Tormey said. "I don't want to draw attention to myself."

She isn't flashy. She doesn't over-gesticulate or highlight herself when she makes a call.

No, O'Tormey simply goes about her business for 32 minutes of basketball - just like when she was a player at Lansdale Catholic.

Born in Upper Darby, O'Tormey grew up in Lansdale, where she went to St. Stanislaus Elementary School and later played for the Crusaders.

She was described as a player who was steady and "one of the most coachable" by a high school coach. She was a guard whose "contributions to the team couldn't be measured."

O'Tormey explains that she was just a follower of rules, a player who put in the work and "did what I was asked" - all character traits that have stuck.

"During the game when you are reffing, you don't care who wins," she said. "What affects you personally, what you care about is that you don't impact the game in any way. You don't want to be the person who makes a call and changes the outcome of the game."

O'Tormey started officiating in 2002, beginning with CYO and grade-school games. She did that for three years in the Lansdale area before progressing to junior varsity high school contests.

There's no real time frame, she says, for how long an official has to be around before he or she moves up to the varsity level. For the 35-year-old, it was between four and five years before she made the jump.

"One of my favorite things about her is that she realizes that we are a part of facilitating the game for the kids," Villa Maria coach Kathy McCartney said. "The kids are the game. She knows that, she understands that."

Typically during the regular season, O'Tormey works five games a week - a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday schedule. She packs her bag with her when she leaves for work in the morning and goes straight from her job as a systems engineering manager at Lockheed Martin to wherever she is officiating.

It's a long day - she leaves her Collegeville home at 7:30 in the morning and usually doesn't return until after 9:30 - but she enjoys it. She wouldn't be doing it if she didn't, she insists.

"When she is out there I feel like you are getting her full effort," Central Bucks South coach Beth Mattern said. "It doesn't matter if it is a close game or not."

In 2014, O'Tormey officiated the PIAA Class 3A girls' final between Archbishop Wood and Blackhawk. She also has officiated a District 1 final in each of the last five years, title games for most conferences, and many semifinals. This year, she started doing college games for the first time to challenge herself.

According to Maureen Gregory, the District 1 officials representative, out of approximately 2,100 in the district, 143 officials are women - roughly 15 percent.

O'Tormey probably never would have been in the 15 percent if it wasn't for the late Paul Moretski, a family friend who asked whether she had thought about taking the officials exam the summer after she graduated from Penn State.

These days, one can find her at some of the biggest games of the year - either refereeing or in the stands watching. O'Tormey is a basketball junkie who also comes to support her friends in what she calls the "brotherhood/sisterhood of officials."

"Most people in the gym are against you, so it is nice to have a few people who have your back in the stands," said O'Tormey, who is the president of Norristown Chapter of PIAA officials.

After the contests - just like a player or coach - O'Tormey often revisits plays on her drive home. What could she have done differently? What could she learn?

That's the thing about O'Tormey: She's always looking to get better.