O’Gorman receives Tony Persichilli Meritorious Service Award
Longtime Trentonian sportswriter was presented with honor at DelVal Scholars Dinner
When Joe O’Gorman took the podium at Sunday’s 62nd Annual George Wah ScholarLeader-Athlete Awards Dinner to accept his Tony Persichilli Meritorious Service Award, most people in the sellout crowd at Princeton Marriott at Forrestal knew him as a Trentonian sportswriter.
But O’Gorman’s contributions to local sports go much deeper than that.
After leaving the service in 1967, O’Gorman graduated from Rider College (now University) and worked as an auditor for the State of New Jersey, Division of Taxation; and for the Office of Criminal Investigation. Throughout his 39 years of state service, O’Gorman served as National Vice Chair and National Chair of the Federation of Tax Administrators.
Despite his busy schedule, Joe made plenty of time for his first love — local sports.
He became an IAABO Board 193 Basketball Official and coached the St. Anthony’s girls’ basketball team in the Mercer County CYO League. From there he became an assistant under Gary Bushelli for the McCorristin High School (now Trenton Catholic) girls’ team.
“I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to contribute to the youth of Mercer county, whether it was coaching, refereeing, or now writing for The Trentonian,” O’Gorman said. “It’s a great opportunity for me in so many ways to give back.”
While coaching at McCorristin in the mid-1980s, O’Gorman got a phone call from long-time friend and Trentonian Sports Editor Joe Logue about doing some freelance work. The late Logue, a local legend along with Joe’s cousin, the late George O’Gorman, took the suggestion of George to try Joe despite the fact he had no formal training in writing.
“I was nervous at the beginning,” the Notre Dame High School graduate said. “But guys like George, Jim Davis, Athan Atsales, Dennis Maffezzolli and a few others kind of walked me through everything. They were so helpful, it was just amazing. Having a vast knowledge and interest in sports just took over from there.”
O’Gorman began as the Burlington County beat writer, which he took to heart and was able to get numerous scoops before other South Jersey papers. He eventually moved to Mercer County beats and currently covers field hockey, ice hockey and girls lacrosse, while also doing football games and broadcasting them on livestream for WBCB sports. Along with his high school duties, O’Gorman has been covering the local colleges since the early 1990s.
He has gained a reputation for being an honest writer who promotes the best in area athletes and coaches. He produces volumes of quality work and has become as good a writer as the aforementioned men he credited for helping him.
“Those guys were so dedicated to high school athletes in the area, it just became contagious,” O’Gorman said.
His contributions were such that the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame saw fit to recognize Joe with the award named after the late Tony Persichili, who himself was a renowned high school football writer. O’Gorman appreciated being cited at a dinner dedicated to the late Steve Gazdek, a former Hamilton West coach and Hamilton/Steinert athletic director.
“It’s a great honor,” O’Gorman said. “Tony Perch was a great guy. And it was a little bit extra special because the dinner was dedicated to Gaz.”
A valuable community member, Joe has served on the Bordentown Township Veteran Advisory Board for the last seven years; and is an Honorary Commander at McGuire Air Force Base. He is a member of American Legion Post 26, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 491, the Burlington County Military Affairs Committee and Vietnam Veterans of America.
Through hard work comes accolades. O’Gorman is a Mercer CYO Basketball HOF inductee; and in May will be inducted into the Notre Dame High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
After nearly 40 years of writing, O’Gorman is still going strong.
“It has always been a pleasure to report on the achievements of young athletes and to follow their career through high school and often through their college athletic career,” O’Gorman said. “It has been a privilege to deal with many great administrators, athletic directors, coaches, colleagues and amazing young athletes. Together they have made this a great, enjoyable ride.”