The Illinois High School Association announced its 2024-25 Officials of the Year in 22 IHSA sports.
Among those is former Waterloo High School cheerleading head coach Amber Cruser.

To be considered for this honor, an official must first be nominated by an officials association recognized by the IHSA or by an IHSA administrator.

IHSA staff members then vote on winners based on factors such as character, skill as an official, and levels worked in the IHSA State Series.

“Officials are vital to the experience of high school student-athletes in Illinois, and we are proud to be able to honor these outstanding individuals as IHSA Officials of the Year,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “High school sports do not exist without them and the thousands of officials around the state who preside over contests and meets every day. This award only recognizes a small percentage of our dedicated officials, but we know they are all worthy of our respect and admiration. We understand they do not officiate for awards or recognition, but it remains a special tradition for the IHSA to be able to honor them.”

Cruser and the other winners will be recognized during the 2025 IHSA Officials Conference to be held July 11-12 in Normal.

Cruser has served as an IHSA competitive cheerleading official for nine years and is also one of four IHSA competitive cheerleading clinicians tasked with educating officials.

She was previously vice president of the Competitive Cheerleading Officials of Illinois.

“In addition to officiating in Illinois, I have judged state tournaments in Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico and Arizona and am a National Federation of State High School Associations high school cheerleading rules interpreter,” Cruser said.

In addition to high school cheerleading, Cruser also officiates collegiate stunt team competitions.

Prior to serving as an IHSA official, Cruser – who works as a language arts teacher at Waterloo Junior High School – was the WJHS cheerleading coach from 2008-2010, then coached the WHS cheerleading squad from 2010-2018.

The WHS cheerleaders qualified for state multiple times while Cruser was head coach.