During timeouts at the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association boys all-star game in mid-June, Carmen Doramus-Kinley and her 10-year-old son, Carrick, sat together in the bleachers at Kansas Wesleyan's Mabee Arena in Salina and traded waves with one of the game officials, Carmen's husband Keith.
 
Earlier in the evening, Carmen wore the black and white stripes, running up and down the court as an official as the Gold squad of Kansas high school girls all-stars defeated the Blue team 96-85. As Keith Kinley caught his breath during one of the breaks in the boys game, he noted his wife "barely broke a sweat" during the fast-paced contest she officiated.
 
It wasn't the first time the Kinleys worked with family in the stands. And for the young Carrick, who lives with a heart rhythm disorder known as long QT syndrome, mom doesn't mind him witnessing something a little unique.
 
"That's one of the reasons I do it, for him to see that you can do whatever you want to do and be successful if you work hard," said Doramus-Kinley, a registered basketball, volleyball and football official in Kansas and president of the Greater Wichita Officials Association.

 
What started with a simple query from a neighbor years ago in Charleston, West Virginia, has turned into a passionate secondary occupation for Doramus-Kinley, a Clearwater High School graduate who played basketball and volleyball at Southwestern College. That neighbor, Tom Blinco, knew Doramus-Kinley played college sports and asked if she would be interested in umpiring softball games.
 
Softball wasn't one of Doramus-Kinley's primary sports, so she hesitated on the idea. But when Blinco asked about officiating volleyball, he struck a chord. Doramus-Kinley registered with the Kanawha Southern Board of Volleyball Officials.
 
"They did a two-week clinic, which I thought was fantastic," Doramus-Kinley said. "It wasn't just, 'Here's your rulebook, take a test and go.' We got on the court and got feedback, and it just kind of blossomed from there."
 
With Blinco and another longtime West Virginia official, Steve Joseph, serving as her mentors, Doramus-Kinley honed her craft officiating West Virginia middle school and high school matches, and added a USA Volleyball certification. At peak times, she officiated six days a week.
 
Doramus-Kinley learned the techniques of R1 and R2 volleyball officials, and officiated state championships in all three of West Virginia's classes. Along the way, she received the National Federation of State High School Associations volleyball official of the year award for the state.
 
"It was just kind of one of those natural things," Doramus-Kinley said. "I had mentors and it was such a great opportunity. Not only mentors, but a real camaraderie. For officials, they're kind of our family away from our family.
 
"They just kind of took me under their wing and I felt like there was a group of us who, when we worked together, it was one of those special things I'll never forget because that's how I got my start."
 
Doramus-Kinley also started officiating basketball games during her time in West Virginia, a new challenge that followed her back to Kansas when she returned to her home state in 2011. To get started in the Wichita area, where she now resides, Doramus-Kinley reached out to Fran Martin, KSHSAA assistant executive director and supervisor of officials.
 
"She got me names and contacts," said Doramus-Kinley, who was pregnant with Carrick when she moved in November of that year. "I ended up working some games until January and then had my son. It was kind of like starting over. Even though I was from Kansas, I didn't really know anybody from the officiating world."
 
Doramus-Kinley, who works as a health care consultant for UMR, has been a KSHSAA-registered official in basketball for 11 years and volleyball for 10. After being honored for her work in West Virginia, she built her career as a Kansas official from the ground up, starting at middle school and sub-varsity high school levels.
 
Doramus-Kinley has worked in several Wichita-area leagues, including the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail, Central Plains, Heart of America, Heart of the Plains and Greater Wichita Athletic. In 2019, at Keith's urging, she started officiating football as a back judge on his crew.
 
"Carmen is a hard worker, cares about officiating and is constantly looking to improve," Martin said. "She spends time watching video of her games and others looking for ways to improve and be the best she can be no matter the sport. She isn't afraid of a challenge. She is thoughtful and determined."
 
And also a leader. Doramus-Kinley landed a spot on the Greater Wichita Officials Association board, where she was asked to serve as chair for volleyball. Leaning on the early training experience she received in West Virginia, Doramus-Kinley started the GWOA's first volleyball officials camp, which drew 18 campers and 12 clinicians from across the state.
 
"That was really successful," Doramus-Kinley said of the camp, which was conducted at her high school alma mater prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. "That was one of my goals. I wanted to start that to get more officials the training and the education they need to be successful and not just hand them the rulebook. They get on the court and they get feedback and know that there are people out there who care about them and want them to succeed as an official."
 
All the while, Doramus-Kinley has continued to conquer new challenges in the profession. After her first high school football season as a back judge, she worked on the line of scrimmage the last two seasons with head official Jerry Power, Keith's uncle. Last fall, Doramus-Kelly officiated games in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference and Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference as part of Mark Kinman's crew.
 
"What a great opportunity to be given, to be hired as the second female official in the Jayhawk (after Taylor Darr)," Doramus-Kinley said. "Doing it on the line of scrimmage, which is the hardest position on the field and where you check 40 things before the snap, it was a great honor to be trusted to work on the sidelines with these coaches. I learned a lot. I never stop learning."
 
And also leading. Doramus-Kinley recently finished a three-year term on KSHSAA's state-wide officials advisory committee. Last fall, she assumed the president's role for the GWOA.
 
"My mission there, in addition to recruiting and retaining, is providing those opportunities to have adequate training," Doramus-Kinley said. "We want officials to work games with feedback so they can get better. And then giving officials a voice. They may not know who to ask if they have an issue. We want them to have a voice."