William Heikkinen was born in Massachusetts in 1994. He has a younger brother and a younger sister. The whole Heikinnen family loves sports including basketball, baseball, football, skiing, and fishing. So it’s not really that much of a stretch to see how William became the football player he is today.
As a child, William started his involvement in sports when he played on a Little League baseball team in Andover, Massachusetts. Even though he wasn’t much taller than the bat then, Will learned a great deal about team sports – the value of teamwork, the drive to be competitive, and the value of practice, practice, practice.
It was in the eighth grade that William found “his” sport when he joined the football team. Even elbow surgery could not stop him. Enjoying other sports, too, Will attended a basketball camp run by Duke University one summer with a couple of his friends.
At Andover High School, William Heikkinen was an honor roll student and quickly became a skilled football player. His contributions to the game started to get him noticed in the newspaper and the community. This made him attractive to many colleges, and once the Ivy Leagues came calling, Will felt the need to step up not only his game, but his academic standards as well. He was described by a fellow team member as “a tremendous player, he’s a Division 1, 1A talent.”