At the time, then 26-year old Maggie deMarteleire couldn’t have imagined that stepping into a coaching role would spark a decades long journey that would redefine her life.
Applying from New Jersey for the newly available head coaching job at her alma mater, Lansdale Catholic, deMarteleire could never have anticipated the 24-year storied career she would lead.
“The reason I actually got into coaching, when I still lived in New Jersey, was that one of my sisters was going to be a senior at LC. She had three different coaches her first three years so when the last one resigned at the end of her junior year, I decided that I was going to put in for it because they needed some stability.” deMarteleire said. “What ended up happening was Mrs. [Lucille] Prichard, who coached me when I was at LC, got the head coaching job and I got the JV job for three years. It was a good experience for me to learn from her because her demeanor was very calm, and mine was a bit more intense, so it was kind of a good balance.”
deMarteleire grew up in the world of sports, a four sport athlete in high school and a two sport athlete in college at Widener. Daughter of legendary football coach Jim Algeo, sports courses through the veins of her and her siblings.
“I played field hockey, basketball, and tennis, and then my senior year, they moved tennis to the fall, so I had to pick between field hockey and tennis and I chose tennis. I didn’t have anything to do in the spring then so I played softball,” deMarteleire said. “I’m the oldest of nine children and all but one have coached at one time or another.”
The passion for sports—and for Lansdale Catholic—was ingrained from a young age, growing up in a household where athletics and school pride were inseparable, rivalries ran deep and traditions were taken very seriously.
“Growing up [at Lansdale Catholic] we were raised to bleed green and to hate North Penn which was kind of bizarre. Back in the day, when North Penn and LC played football on Thanksgiving, it usually wasn’t a very happy day in our household because North Penn usually won,” deMarteleire said.
Regarded as one of the most successful coaches in the schools history, deMarteleire led the Crusaders to 10 PAC-10 Championships, 15 district runs, and 7 state runs in her 15 seasons coaching at Lansdale Catholic from 1991 to 2007.
“I left [LC] because they went into the [Philadelphia] Catholic League and that was something I just didn’t want to do, and it just happened that Coach Crawford resigned [from North Penn] right after I resigned and one of the parents emailed me in the summer of 2007 and said ‘would you be interested,’ and at the time, initially, I was just like, no, I’m done, but both my kids said you don’t want to enter your career like that,” deMarteleire said.
The move to rival North Penn would find deMarteleire her home for the rest of her career, where she would turn a girls basketball program into one of the most respected programs of her time.
“It’s funny, the first time I walked down the hallway in 2007 going to my first open gym in October of 2007, it was surreal. It’s been a great experience, going from a small school to a big school.”
In her time at North Penn from 2007-2018, deMarteleire and her team brought home the first girls basketball District One title in the school’s history in 2014, and achieved her 500th career win two years later in 2016.
“The coolest part of coaching with her was watching the program do a complete 180. Within two years we qualified for district playoffs, in three years we qualified for states, and 7 years later we won the school’s first and only District 1 Girls’ Basketball Championship,” said LC alum and current NPHS math teacher Mrs. Lauren Brett who had the opportunity to play under deMarteleire at Lansdale Catholic and then coach with her at North Penn. “We contended year after year for league and district titles, and even made it to the state quarterfinals. That was all Maggie. She changed the expectations of the program and created a winning culture here.”
“When we won the district championship here, that was awesome. I mean, that really was a really good experience. I think we got to the semifinals one time in states. The one year, we beat Boyertown in district playoffs by 20 points, and then we lost to O’Hara in the state playoffs and Boyertown beat O’Hara and they won the state championship. It’s a matter of timing and luck and, so we never got to the state championship game, but we had a lot of fond memories,” deMarteleire said.
“The 2013-14 season was super special, winning the District Championship at Villanova and watching the girls run off the court to hug us as champions was something I’ll never forget. Maggie deserved every bit of that win after an amazing coaching career,” Brett added.
When asked about her incredible numbers and achievements at both schools, deMarteleire responded “Oh I guess I did. I don’t know. Probably.” Her humility was evident as she recollected her games, remembering every detail and like many great coaches, really focusing on how the game went and the impact of others instead of her role.
“The night that we won the district championship, those kids did everything right. It was a coach’s dream. You practice, practice, practice, and then it just all came together, and the kids really stepped up and played super. Well, then I had to get my hair dyed. I told them I’d dye my hair blonde. That was a big mistake. I said the next time if we win something else, I’ll get a small tattoo, I said I’m not doing that again, wrecked my hair for two years,” deMarteleire shared with a laugh.
deMarteleire joined her dad, a 2005 inductee, in the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016 as the only father-daughter duo in the Hall.
“I kind of went from a really intense coach; I wouldn’t say I was mellow by the end, but I was a lot more relaxed. I think I demanded a lot of my players, I set their expectations high,” deMarteleire said.
“Maggie was by far the best coach I ever played for throughout my entire basketball career. Her intensity made you want to win all of the time. She demanded the best of you both on and off the court. Did I love every second of that when I was in high school? No. Do I now realize what she was teaching me? Absolutely. There were so many life lessons in the way Maggie coached her players. She taught us responsibility, determination, intensity, how to be a good teammate, and how to come together for a common goal,” Brett said.
When her coaching career came to a close, deMarteleire wasn’t done with North Penn just yet.
“I just wanted to have a job, and I enjoy having my summers off. Now I’m going to retire and I have three grandchildren and we have a place in Brigantine so I’m looking forward to relaxing,” deMarteleire said. “When I first started working here as a secretary, I was in a home office F40. I got moved over to where I am now in F17 when Dr. Bauer first became the principal here, so I’ve had less and less interaction with students. I miss that. Just fun things, like some of the players used to just stop in when I was in F40 and talk to me, but I do have a lot of interaction with the teachers, which I find rewarding.”
Looking back on her career, deMarteleire was amazed at how she balanced everything.
“I was coaching basketball, I was a supervisor and at the post office and raising two children, and I’m like, I don’t know how I did all that. When I stopped coaching, it gave me a lot of time back. But again, I’m glad I retired when I did from coaching, and I have a lot of fond memories from coaching, and then coming here and working, I’ve had a really positive experience working here. I like my job and I’m happy that I experienced a small school and a big school; so many different things,” she said.
Now as she closes the final chapter on her career, deMarteleire is embracing the opportunity to slow down and explore life beyond the court and office.
“I’m looking forward to not getting up at five. I’m looking to enjoy time with my grandchildren, and honestly, I kind of want to try some new things, maybe. My whole life has evolved pretty much around work and sports, I don’t know, maybe gardening or something like that. I’m not really sure. I kind of would like to maybe try some new things,” deMarteleire concluded.
As she steps away from the roles that defined so much of her life, deMarteleire leaves behind not only a record of success, but generations of athletes and colleagues who were shaped by her passion, intensity, and heart.
