'Bringing the energy': How Scott Moir is moulding the next generation of ice dancers
Scott Moir hasn't lost his edge.
January 10, 2023
Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir, one half of the gold medal team of Virtue and Moir, now coaches teams from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Moir works with Canadian ice dancers Jacob Portz and Alyssa Robinson as they practise at the Komoka Wellness Centre west of London on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
“We're going to kick Charlie's ass,” Moir, 35, quipped during a lively training session last week at Komoka Wellness Centre. “Quote that one.”
The one-liners, verbal jabs, laughs and hockey talk is so familiar to anyone who closely followed Moir’s career with his longtime partner, Tessa Virtue of Ilderton, to Olympic gold and the top of the skating world.
Later this month, the ice dance superstar-turned-coach will be in San Jose, Calif., to support one of his promising teams – Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko – at the U.S. national championships.
In the fall, he bet Ponomarenko, a die-hard San Jose Sharks fan, the Maple Leafs would beat them. When Toronto didn’t, Moir wore one of Sharks captain Logan Couture’s jerseys on the ice, then handed it over to his student.
“He loved that,” said the head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s Ontario campus.
The American ice dance team of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko work through their routine under the gaze of coach Scott Moir at Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
This week, Moir will wear out a path to the Kiss and Cry area at the Canadian figure skating championships in Oshawa. His local crew is looking to take big steps after some international success.
Londoners Lily Hensen and Nathan Lickers aim to crack the Top 5 in the senior ranks while Ridgetown’s Alyssa Robinson and Calgary’s Jake Portz have that potential, too. Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker, who relocated from B.C., hope to grab a podium spot.
Kilworth’s Jordyn Lewis and Ilderton’s Noah McMillan want to earn a junior worlds berth and former novice champs Layla Veillon and Alex Brandys, both Londoners, are taking the next step up the ladder. Lewis and Veillon are also on the Ice Ignite synchro team seeking a junior worlds spot.
Internationally, Leia Dozzi and Pietro Papetti skate for Italy and Samantha Ritter and Daniel Brykalov represent Azerbaijan.
Senior ice dancers Nathan Lickers and Lily Hensen of London work on their routines under the guidance of Olympic champion Scott Moir and his mom, Alma Moir, at Komoka Wellness Centre Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
“The project here is to create two equal schools,” Moir said. “Montreal is, by far, the most dominant in the world. At the last Olympics, they had 10 of the last 20 skaters (in ice dance). That’s a lot. It’s a big ask, but I think it’s possible now.”
Moir studied the Montreal way when he and Tessa Virtue moved there for their dominant run to the 2018 Olympic title. They worked under old friends Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, then Moir brought the spirit of camaraderie and friendly, in-house competition back home.
“The kids have to create the atmosphere they want,” he said. “They cheer each other on. Even though a lot of them will go and be on the competition ice with each other, I learned the real magic is if you have each other’s back. There’s a balance to be struck.
“We (Moir and Virtue) didn’t have the same in Canton (Mich.),” he added. “We had it early when Charlie and I were really firing in 2010. I wasn’t the most mature young man in 2014, so I didn’t use that environment to my advantage. But we doubled down on it in 2018 (alongside the French team of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron) and it was to our advantage, for sure.”
Former Olympic ice dancer Scott Moir now has a thriving business coaching teams from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Moir skates past his mom, and fellow coach, Alma Moir, at Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
LENDING A HAND: Moir grew up surrounded by figure skating coaches. That family connection remains at the academy. His mother Alma, aunt Carol and cousins Sheri and Cara are part of the staff.
“It’s fun – it’s kind of hard to call him my boss now, though,” Alma joked. “He stresses a positive attitude to the coaches and an old (veteran) here sometimes, I have to do a check on how positive I am some days. It took a while for the kids to feed into it, but you could see the energy change from the summer to now.”
Moir has some non-family help, too, in Justin Trojek and soon-to-be-married Madison Hubbell and Adrian Diaz, a Spanish ice dancer. Hubbell, who finished third at the last Olympics with Zachary Donohue, called her immediate jump from athlete to full-time coach a rare transition.
“It was really after meeting Adrian and seeing his love of skating and different perspective that I started enjoying analyzing skating together,” the 31-year-old from Michigan said.
“When we trained together (in Montreal), one of my favourite things was Scott’s energy – whether it was doing back-and-forth cardio or competing on a daily basis. It can feel like a very solo sport and Scott made a point of including you and cheering you on with a compliment or kind word. He’s a big instigator in what I would consider more of a hockey mentality: rowdy, yelling and having fun.”
MOVING FORWARD: Moir, who’s married and has a two-year-old daughter, recently congratulated Virtue on her engagement to Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly. Once in a while, he admits he will press her for some inside info on his favourite team.
His skaters want to hear stories about Virtue, too.
“I looked up to Tessa so much and still do every day,” said Carreira, 22. “She came to the rink once and it was literally the best day. Getting to train with Scott Moir every day is a privilege. I grew up in Montreal and they were my heroes.”
Moir believes the much-loved on-ice connection he shared with Virtue can be taught technically, but he has no interest in churning out mere carbon copies.
“These athletes aren’t going to be able to be Tessa and Scott, because in four, eight and 12 years, Tessa and Scott aren’t going to be good enough,” he said. “They already aren’t. We wouldn’t have won the last Olympics. The sport is evolving, the skaters will and I have to, as well. It’s about making it their own. Everyone has a different look and story.”
Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir coaches American skaters Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
Carreira and Ponomarenko, whose parents Marina and Sergei won 1992 Olympic ice dance gold, are developing that mature skating connection that served Virtue and Moir so well. But Moir isn’t designing similar programs for Veillon, 16, and Brandys, 17.
“You can’t coach two athletes the same way and you motivate the man and woman different,” Moir said. “That’s the fun of coaching. I don’t come here to walk down memory lane. I come here to learn, too. How can I teach this kid a counter even though I was a good counter turner? Now, I need to figure out a different way. It’s a challenge and my coaching staff challenges me. Hopefully, this momentum turns into a snowball and keeps rolling.”
The bond is already encouraging.
“Even though I’m one of the youngest, you completely forget an age gap,” Veillon said. “You get to come to the rink every day and skate with some of your closest friends. The coaches are amazing, they want the best for us and we have such a fun time.”
ONE-ON-ON WITH COACH SCOTT MOIR
Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir demonstrates some footwork for one of his teams at the Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
Has your approach to the sport changed since on-ice retirement?
“I was much more performance and result-based. I wanted to win. I studied the points and what needed to be better to be on top. My experience with Tessa, as a coach, showed me if I strategize properly, it can work. I was a little riskier as an athlete, because it’s you out there. You’re the one who puts your heart and soul into it. Now, I feel I owe it to the kids. You feel responsible, but you still have to be a little dangerous. That edge is what gives us an advantage. The goal is not personal-best skates alone. It’s taking advantage of your opportunity. Go for it and take the lessons of being able to perform in front of people, because you have to really bring it on this stage.”
What’s the goal of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s Ontario campus?
“To make great people. It sounds so stupid, but we believe success is a byproduct. You’re a good person first, support your teammates, demand the best of yourself, never stop wanting to grow and be ready to learn. It’s not a trade-off. I used to think you can drink the Kool-Aid and be your best self, but I wanted to win. Patrice, Marie-France and Romain (Haguenauer) showed me it all goes hand-in-hand. We’re an elite school and we want to be on top of the world. As we develop these kids and these skills that will serve them well in life, we want to become excellent athletes able to stand on top of podiums. We don’t have a ton of great skating schools in Canada and our success doesn’t mean we can’t have great schools in Scarborough, Vancouver and Calgary. We’re the most dominant skating country with the most rinks. I hope we can get the footprint a little bigger so we can affect more athletes. Hopefully, we can compete against our Montreal teammates and push their boundaries, too.”
How can you affect the skating experience for your students beyond the technical elements?
“I had success in my career, but I got bogged down in the negatives over many years. Who knows if we would’ve beaten Marilyn (Davis) and Charlie, but I think my outlook on skating kept me from being my best self leading up to 2014 (silver medal in Sochi). I’d love for the kids to hear my wisdom and not have to go through the black period I did. At the same time, it’s their journey and they need to have their own path. I can have a direct impact on the negative parts of the sport that don’t need to exist. There are parts of the sport people may think of as ugly or the judging, but being able to be happy about yourself no matter what people think can be a positive. In this age of social media and all that s—, it’s important. Even before the scores, are you personally happy? Did you give everything you had? I’m hoping to prepare for them to deal with those issues the right way.”
How do you impact a generation of skaters who didn’t face the same challenges you did?
“They motivate very differently. It’s tricky for me. I grew up in the other one. My dad was fair and hard on me. If I deserved it, I got it and I deserved it a lot. He didn’t baby me and I thrived. I have fantastic parents. I had some coaches that were a little harder on me and when you go through the Russian schools, of course, that’s the way it is. I loved it. There were also dark parts it created that I also had to deal with later in life. I think there’s a way to expect the most out of these kids and have them expect it, but through love and support. There’s a balance. You can be critical and deliver the message the right way. This generation motivates from exciting things. You’ve got to keep it fresh and keep them rolling and feeling good. My first couple of years, I got bogged down in hammering on them, because I like being in the trenches. The kids felt it was super heavy and it didn’t work. I started being more positive and bringing the energy every day and you see them lift up with results much better. We’re trending that way and it’s natural for me, too.”
Are you able to watch old videos of you and Tessa Virtue skating without finding every little fault in it?
“My perspective of our career is probably the most jaded. You can’t really watch yourself without it. Watching it is getting better and better, actually. You forget the cues you’re supposed to be doing and I’m able to just watch Tessa much more than what I’m doing wrong, so that’s enjoyable. I watch it with a different eye now that I coach. I was very critical and it wasn’t fun to watch tape before, but it’s getting better. I think for the sake of ice dance – and I think that’s why 2018 was such a success for us – the sport evolved. We came back, dove in, pushed ourselves and were able to come away with Olympic gold again. It would be foolish for me to step in and say if I can create 10 Scott Moirs, we’re going to be successful. I don’t believe that.”
—The London Free Press
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list #1: [ RECITE ] sender quotes a poem that reminds them of receiver
okay hear me out on this one: nathan scott. BC HE WLD TOTALLY TRY TO MEMORIZE THE POEM TO IMPRESS YOU BUT HE GETS ALL FLUSTERED AND NERVOUS AND CUTE🥰🥰
pls hold the applause i will be here for the rest of time
SO TRUE. okay I used to this poem before but I couldn’t find one I liked before soooo
————
“I gotta say, I’m impressed,” you remark. “Oh, yeah?” Nathan grins. “Yep. Who knew basketball star and boy toy Nathan Scoff could be so romantic?” you grin. He shrugs, “I guess I’m full of surprises.”
You nod in agreement and peck his cheek. You wrap your arm around his as you two walk through the little shopping center at Tree Hill. Tonight is your third date with Nathan. Before going with him, you warned him that you wanted to take it slow. You didn’t want to get your heart broken, especially not by the jackass you thought Nathan was. You were a little surprised that Nathan agreed. You thought it would whine and complain about not having you in his bed yet, but it turns out he likes you enough to try something new. And something new meant actually dating. Not on and off sex like his last relationship with Peyton. You were worried he would be turned off by the idea, but in all honesty, he’s enjoyed getting to know you. You’re a very interesting, charismatic young woman that he’s completely wrapped up in. And he definitely showed that tonight.
“The sunset is beautiful,” you hum, looking at the nearby beachy area where it looked like the sun was melting into the sea. Nathan stares at you with a love sick smile on his face. “It definitely is.” You look at him, laughing as you catch him looking at you. “That was a little cliché, don’t you think?” you ask. “Did it work?” he asks. “Mm, it definitely did,” you beam. Nathan walks you to the beach, both of you sitting down in the sand.
“We should have brought our bathing suits,” you chuckle. “Maybe next time,” Nathan nods. You watch him closely for a few seconds. He’s twiddling his fingers, eyes darting around the area. He looks nervous. “Hey, you okay?” you ask. “Hm? Oh, yeah. I just… I want to show you something,” he says. You nod and fully turn to him. “What’s up?” “Um, it’s this poem,” he says. Your brows raise. You stare at him to make sure he’s not joking. “Really?” “Yeah,” he nods. “It’s for my English class assignment. And it’s about you. And I know you like poetry, so, yeah,” he explains.
You smile, “well, let’s hear it!”
“Okay,” he nods. He swallows visibly. “She walks like beauty, like the night. Of cloudless climes and starry skies; and all that’s best of dark and bright. Meet in her aspects and her eyes; thus mellowed to that tender light. Which heaven to gaudy days deny.” He watches you as he recites it, feeling more confident as your smile gets wider. Once he gets to the last few lines, he seems to forget the words. “Sorry I… I can’t remember them,” he frowns. “Well, it’s okay, Nate. I loved what you could remember. It was all very sweet. Thank you,” you grin. He shakes his head, “no, it’s not okay.”
You furrow your brows. “Why not?” “Because I… I wanted to impress you,” he blushes and looks away. You smile widely, slipping your hand into his. “Oh, Nathan. I am very impressed. The fact that you memorized more than half of it. I mean, honestly, from what I’ve heard from Haley and your grades, I’m surprised you could even read,” you tease. He rolls his eyes. “I guess I’m full of surprises then.”
“Nathan,” you say, lifting his head up with your chin. “I am very impressed. I’m impressed with this whole night, with you. With these three dates we’ve been on.”
“Yeah?” Nathan asks. “Mhm. And I am so impressed, that if you asked me to be your girlfriend, then I would say yes,” you grin. His eyes light up and a smile spreads across his face. “Y/n L/n, will you be my girlfriend?” You giggle and nod, “Yes, I will, Nathan Scott.”
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also tvd and oth if you’re up for it✨
tvd:
favorite male character: damon and tyler
favorite female character: elena and caroline
least favorite character: matt, alaric though I actually loved him on tvd lol)
favorite ship: damon/elena
favorite friendship: caroline/elena, bonnie/elena, bonnie/caroline, bonnie/caroline/elena
favorite quote: there's just too many to pick one but what elena says at the memorial in 402 and what damon says at alaric's grave in 402!!
worst character death (if any): jenna, tyler
saddest moment: the delena goodbye in 5x22!
one tree hill:
favorite male character: nathan
favorite female character: brooke
least favorite character: dan
favorite ship: brooke/lucas, jake/peyton, nathan/haley
favorite friendship: brooke/haley
favorite quote: there's just too many I can't pick one lol
worst character death (if any): keith!!
saddest moment: the brucas moment in 3x22 because it was all real ugh
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