Suffolk county official Larry Gualtieri was formally inducted into the NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame this week.
Gualtieri officiated soccer, basketball, and baseball in Suffolk County (Section XI) since 1974.
His status as one of the best officials in the state has been obvious for a while now. Section XI has selected him numerous times to represent the section as an official at the NYSPHSAA Boys Basketball and Boys Soccer State Championships and nearly every year the section also choose Gualtieri as a top-rated official to officiate in the sectional playoffs in all three sports.
He has been a member of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials Board 40 (IAABO) of New York State since 1974 and has been a member of the Suffolk County Soccer Officials Association since 1994, serving as President and Vice President of NYS IAABO Board 19.
He has also served as the President of the IAABO Board from 1985-87 and 2012-17. Gualtieri was recognized with the Larry Chizever Award (Official of the Year) twice and earned the President’s Award (IAABO Board 40) in 1993, 1997, and 2018.
In 2011, Suffolk County Soccer Officials Association awarded him Man of the Year, and five years later, the Section XI Coaches Association voted him Referee of the Year.
In 2014, he was inducted into the Center Moriches High School Hall of Fame. Gualtieri graduated from Center Moriches High School in 1972, earned a degree from Suffolk Community College, and then completed schooling at Suffolk County Police Academy to become a detective.