Helen Nicol
Multisport - Inducted 1996
Helen Nicol began her outstanding career as a multisport athlete in the 1930s in the Calgary area. She competed in softball, baseball, hockey, speed skating, and golf for more than forty years.
During her years as a softball pitcher, she played for several teams including the Calgary Chinooks, Avenue Grill Cooks, Parkhill Vic's, Wittichens, the Edmonton Army & Navy Pats, Walkrites, and the William Wrigley's All-American Glamor Girls Softball Club in Chicago, IL. Helen Nicol was an original member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943 to 1954. During her professional years as a right-handed hurler, she pitched in 313 games and won 163 of them. She was the only pitcher to start as a pitcher in 1943 and pitch her entire 10-year career in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The League was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 1988. The movie A League of Their Own features Helen Nicol and other players of that famous League.
As a hockey player, Helen Nicol played center ice for the Calgary Avenue Grill Chinooks, who captured both the Southern Alberta Ladies' and the Banff Winter Carnival Hockey Championships.
She also competed in the 1940 Banff Winter Carnival as a speed skater and won the Senior Ladies' 880 with a record-setting pace of 1:39 1-5. In a provincial competition, the same year, she was runner-up for the title with a total of 50 points.
After moving to Arizona in 1972, Helen Nicol won several golf tournaments including the Phoenix-Motorola Open five times.
Helen Nicol has been honored numerous times for her athletic achievements.
After Induction
Helen passed away on July 25, 2021
