Al Huetter

Born in 1916, in Buffalo, Al Huetter was drawn to athletics at an early age and was a three-sport star at old Hutchinson Central High School.

Following Hutchinson Central, Huetter attended Cortland State College, where he earned 13 varsity letters in football, basketball, swimming and baseball and was on the school’s ski team.

He then earned his master’s degree at Columbia University, before serving in the United States Army during World War II. In his role with the military, he made several trips around the world as a security officer. Even though athletics weren’t a part of his everyday regimen, he did some boxing before his discharge in 1945 as a colonel.

Following his military service, he returned to Buffalo and the world of athletics. He taught physical education in many Buffalo public schools. He coached five different sports at Buffalo’s East High School, before becoming the head coach for the South Park High School football team. He led the Sparks for 17 years and captured the Harvard Cup title in 1951.

Despite his success as both an athlete and a coach, Al Huetter is best known as a sports official. He served as a referee locally, officiating football games, basketball games, track and field meets, swimming meets and volleyball matches during his long career.
Huetter’s work extended beyond the local fields of play. He was an official for the old American Football League and worked NFL games after the AFL-NFL merger. He acted as Field Judge in the 1963 AFL Championship game.

After officiating thousands of high school, college, semi-pro and pro sports events, Al Huetter retired from refereeing in 1983 after 35 years.

Huetter was widely recognized as a quality official and served as the president of the WNY Basketball Officials Association.
Al Huetter passed away in 1989 at the age of 73.