Born and raised in Huntsville, Bill Nickalls became involved with the Huntsville Minor Lacrosse Association as president at the young age of 22. In the late ’50s and early ’60s Huntsville was a dominant Lacrosse town in Ontario, winning many championships annually. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Toronto to work in the lumber business, where he became a member of the Minor Lacrosse board of directors for the province. He was also well known for refereeing the sport all over the province. When the local lacrosse association decided it needed a second lacrosse box, Bill was managing the mill at the time and donated most of the materials to build the new box, he almost lost his job over it.