Larry Cote, Volleyball

In 1984, after retiring from Bell Laboratories in New Jersey with over 20 years of officiating (16 at the national level,) Larry moved to San Diego.

Soon he devoted himself full time to establishing and organizing the San Diego Volleyball Officials Association of which he was named president. He was totally dedicated to raising the performance level of all officials.

He achieved this by mentoring those who were looking to improve and by conducting numerous instructional clinics which led to many achieving their national rating. This resulted in San Diego being recognized as having some of the best qualified officials working at the national level. Nine officials from San Diego worked the NCAA Division I and II Final Four playoffs in 2012. Much credit is given to Larry for these very proud accomplishments.

Larry was the assigner of all referees for all of San Diego county colleges, high schools and many tournaments. He officiated many himself and also worked the national Olympic team’s practices and exhibition matches in San Diego. He officiated many NCAA national championships including finals, Pan Am Games and USVBA nationals where he also rated officials.

Sadly, Larry passed away in 2012 after a long illness. His legacy will be the much respected San Diego Volleyball Officials Association.