By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — Larry Cesario, a well known and well regarded football and basketball official and baseball umpire, died on Monday.
A 1966 West Rowan graduate, Cesario was 78.
It takes a five-man crew to administrate a high school football game, and Cesario was one of the dependable men in stripes who always showed up on Friday nights. He did it for more than 40 years. He got started as a high school football official when he was in his early 30s and he was still active into his 70s.
His philosophy was simple — always be in position, always give 100 percent.
“If five people don’t show up, they don’t play a game,” said Cesario, in a Post story 10 years ago. “Officiating is a fellowship. The only friend you have out there is the other four guys.”
The five-man officiating crew includes a referee (white cap), a linesman, a line judge, an umpire and a back judge. Cesario was a linesman, the official who oversees the chain gang.
Cesario reached a lofty level in his craft. He helped maintain order in emotional A.L. Brown-Concord games. He worked state championship games. He worked East-West All-Star Games.
“When I put that uniform on, I don’t take anyone’s crap,” Cesario said in 2015.
He got started on the road to officiating as a young adult. As a YMCA volunteer, he administered Gray-Y football, youth basketball and Little League baseball games. Then he trained new umpires and officials.
He eventually moved up to working middle school games. Then he officiated his first junior varsity football game at North Rowan.
He enjoyed that experience, so he attended football clinics put on by the North State Football Officials Association. North State required a two-year apprenticeship as an “associate official,” working youth football, middle school and junior varsity games, making mistakes and learning from them before you advanced to the bright lights of Friday nights.
There was a significant time investment — meetings to attend, clinics to attend and rule-book tests to take. And a significant monetary investment — fees, liabilty insurance and full uniforms.
Cesario’s first official varsity high school football game was a Mooresville at Mount Pleasant game in the late 1970s.
Working for the North State Football Officials Association, he received assignments from area supervisor Rodney Callaway, a Boyden High graduate who died in 2021. Cesario traveled to venues such as Greensboro, Stanly County and Montgomery County. He worked a wide area. There was nowhere he objected to going.
During his career, Cesario umpired many baseball games, but he made it a point not to do American Legion games involving Rowan County. He wanted to avoid any complaints that his calls might favor his home county.
In 2015, Cesario was getting paid $76 for varsity football games and $66 for jayvee games, so he obviously wasn’t doing it for the money. He officiated for love of the game and because he believed in high school sports and the valuable life lessons they taught young players.
You can’t make a living officiating high school football no matter how much you love it.
Cesario’s day job was as a national account executive for an armored car company. He traveled a lot. He opened offices for the company in Charlotte and Raleigh.
Cesario was civic-minded. He was a member of the Salisbury Civitan Club and Lions Club.
Survivors include sons Andy and Craig and four grandchildren.
