Beers, William George

William George Beers, lacrosse player and dentist (born on May 5, 1843, at Montreal, Canada East [Que].; died there on December 26, 1900). At age 17, William Beers wrote the book of standard rules for lacrosse. That same year, he was chosen as the goalkeeper to represent Montreal in a match played before the Prince of Wales. Beers introduced a hard rubber ball to replace the hair-stuffed deerskin ball and developed a stick that was better suited to catching the ball and throwing it accurately. The original rules of ice hockey, written in 1867, were patterned after the rules that Beers developed for lacrosse. He promoted the game with such enthusiasm that it became a popular sport across Canada. In 1867 he organized a convention in Kingston at which the National Lacrosse Association was formed, with him as its secretary. Eager to make the game popular abroad too, he took lacrosse teams to England in 1876 and 1883.

Beers was also a prominent dentist. One of the first Canadians to specialize in the subject, he founded and edited Canada's first dental journal.