 During his school life, Nutt was seen to be remarkably skilled in chess, mathematics and other academic based skills, however lacked the athletic ability to thoroughly exceed in any of the main sports until he found a keen interest in fencing.In 1980, Nutt started fencing at the age of 14, whilst attending Barker College and when asked, Nutt responded by saying; 'I loved it ever since I picked up a foil as it was something that I have always wanted to do'.Nutt became President of the West Australia Fencing Association in 1995, the Director for the Australian Fencing Federation in 2000 and the President of the ACT Fencing Association in 2001.