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virtchandmoir · 1 year

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A CONVERSATION WITH SCOTT MOIR

At M.K. John Wilson Trophy, I had the pleasure of sitting down with two-time Olympic Champion and three-time World Champion Scott Moir. We spoke in two parts, the first before the free dance event and the second after the competition had ended.

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January 20, 2023

Are you more nervous now, as a coach than you were as a skater? How are the emotions different?

They’re just different. To be honest, I use a lot of the same tactics to prepare, like visual training, but it’s just a little bit different. So my athletes, hopefully, we’ve – my team and I – have prepared them well, at home. And when they get here, I’m trying to figure out what each of them needs in the moment. So I use my visualising skills for the coach that I want to be. And for me, I’m a very passionate competitive person. So most of the time, that means having very clear, simpler thoughts, and clear messages. And then also, the biggest thing that I learned from Patrice [Lauzon] is just calm energy. You know, when you’re going into these high-pressure moments, and you’ve done all the work, the biggest thing you want [is] to look back and see [that] your coach has your back, and is there for you. So really, make sure the athletes know that, but it’s a different feeling as they perform. Obviously, it’s so intense when you’re skating. Because you have the cue on every single thing.

For me, as a coach, you’re learning. So try to enjoy the moment, but also as they compete, the training exposes itself. What can we do better, where do we go compared to the field, compared to what our end goal is? So I find the competition as a coach such great feedback, such great information that I have to be quite sharp. So I don’t find I get as lost in the moment because I have to be on my toes.

How soon after retiring, did you actually sort of fully start coaching?

“Fully start coaching…” I’d say it was about three years. Luckily, I had a couple of years of retirement after 2014 as well. So I kind of knew what I was expecting. And my experience at I.AM changed my outlook on coaching, as well as on figure skating and wanting to be involved. Patrice, Marie-France [Dubreuil], Romain [Haguenauer] and the coaching staff there, Sam Chouinard, Gigi [Cournoyer]. They changed my life. And it changed how I felt about the sport, and they empowered me to be my best self and learn what that is and who that was. And it inspired me to want to do that for other people.

So it wasn’t that long after. We toured, we did all that. And Marie-France and Patrice were always very good role models for us. So they’d kind of given me that, like ‘You go on tour and enjoy‘ and Tess and I wanted to celebrate together. But not very long after – two, three years after – we kind of started thinking – because we’d already retired once and done tours and we’re doing a show – and we just looked at each other and were kind of like ‘This isn’t the same’. We both had other projects that we were putting on hold: her getting her MBA and working for Deloitte, and for me, the skating school. So as much as we miss each other daily, it was time to move on and not perform anymore. And then that, for me, kind of allowed me to start coaching and really dive in. Luckily, my family already had a skating school and they had already been training a lot of the athletes I work with today. And then the collaboration with I.AM really came together. So I came in at quite a high level. It was exciting right from the beginning.

How did that collaboration come about?

Mostly just support from Ice Academy of Montreal. I think this coaching team – they’re so sophisticated and they do what they do so well. It’s a big honour for me to call them colleagues, but I really still, in many ways, see them as my coaches and I think, for them, the coaching doesn’t stop when your career stops. They always want to inspire, and now we inspire each other a little bit more. And they are really great at not just coaching me but allowing me to find my own feet.

So after we were done skating, they just continued to coach and I was talking with Patrice and they had me come in a couple of times and their energy at their rink really inspired me. Patrice had this idea to try and multiply what they had created in Montreal and if we’re doing what we say we’re doing at the academy, some of us should be coming into maturity and hopefully we can create better skating schools throughout the world and kind of make the footprint of the movement a little bit larger. So when he said that, to me, it fired me up. And I wanted to really do my own thing. But I would have done my own thing, I think, in Montreal, if I hadn’t met my wife and missed my family and all that stuff. I still think my home is in Ontario. But professionally, I was a little bit upset, because I would love to be beside them in Montreal and join forces. And then when they came up with this idea, and we started to talk about it, and I had kind of been thinking of it as well, like ‘Hey, is there any way we could have a partnership?’ And then Patrice kind of took it one step further, and had this idea of it being a campus of our I.AM schools and so that kind of came very naturally. We were building it all up for a long time in the background, before we actually launched. And yeah, we’re still learning. We’re still young – what they built over many, many years – so they get a lot of SOS phone calls. And even just to share resources helps us a lot: dance coaches and known professionals. Like having Sam Chouinard in a couple of weeks ago really helps our kids. There’s just a certain environment, and it’s hard because we want to be our own, but what they do, they do so well. So we model a lot of the things we do after them as well.

Your first sort of, I guess, big team that came to you after you became a coach was Christina [Carreira] and Anthony [Ponomarenko]. How did they approach you? And what was that sort of communication like?

Yeah, they were looking for a new training environment. And they approached both Patrice and me. And we were, you know, – Patrice and his relationship with US figure skating – already working with the top three teams in the country – top two teams in the country now. And we are trying to decide whether there was enough room for them. And that was before MIDA [Michigan Ice Dance Academy] was up and running. And so we have this idea that they can kind of be the leaders of our school with the help of the Montreal staff. So we created this collaboration, which is what we see the whole movement being: all about collaborating in a combination of different people. For me, I think the most powerful and enlightening moment this year was bringing in Madison [Hubbell] and Adrian [Diaz] and seeing them, now, kind of taking flight, taking ownership, really helping our athletes and then going to Montreal, seeing Guillaume [Cizeron] choreographing and working with so many athletes – what a great opportunity for us to try and expand. And so it’s been pretty cool to see all of that happening.

But Christina and Anthony, they kind of threw us into the game right away in Ontario. We love working with Christina and Anthony every day and seeing what they bring to the school. Their competitiveness and their willingness to learn. They are already accomplished skaters, but we’re trying to rebuild what they’re doing.

Just to get a maturity and keep taking them to the next level. And they’re all in and you know, there are some days when I think ‘Oh, man, should you be trusting me with this?’ But we come into the lab everyday together and we try and be our best and because of that I find the job of working with them extremely rewarding.

You have a few other Canadian teams as well like Sales and Wamsteeker, Hensen/Lickers, and recently had Alyssa Robinson and Jacob Portz move to you. Can you talk a bit about them, their training, and what they’re up to?

Absolutely. Haley and Nik here at Skate America – Skate America. Jesus. Sheffield. Anyways, what’s it called…MK dance? Cup of China? whatever we’re at! But to be at a Grand Prix is big for them. They need to get in with the best of the world. In Canada, we have a thick middle field, and they’re amongst that field and they’re looking for ways to make a splash. So yesterday was quite disappointing for them. They didn’t want to be in that position. They’re looking to fight back today. But everything for them is there.

Same for Christina and Anthony – they had to do a lot last year. They’re redefining themselves, trying to push themselves to go in different directions. They’ve skated for a little bit longer, in terms of their age, but now they need to really challenge themselves to kind of break through. So it’s not easy when you get into this arena and the Grand Prix – everyone’s good. So we’ll be hoping to have a breakthrough performance today.

And then Alyssa and Jake – we were very pleased to get the call from them. Alyssa’s from down the road for me – about an hour down the road, but down the road in southwestern Ontario. She was in our synchro program at the Ilderton Skating Club before she ended up at West skating with Jacob so we’re very happy to have her home. And I think they’re an interesting team. They’re gonna make quite the splash. We love how they’re, again, they come in, and they buy in a bit more to our style. And they bring their best every day, It’s just kind of what we demand of our athletes. And they’ve been great. And it’s been tough. They came halfway through the summer, because of schooling stuff. At the beginning of summer really, but for us, that’s halfway through the summer. And they had a couple of performances early on that we didn’t think would be possible to be honest, because everything was so new and so fresh. And we’re like ‘Okay, let’s just see how it works out‘. And it worked out really well in the first couple events. And now we’re at a point where we’re trying to get them to look more mature, get them to really take a step because they give us these little really refined glimpses of maturity and speed and power. We want them to bring that to every performance. We did an event a couple weeks ago, where we were very happy with how they were performing in practice, in the lead up, and the whole goal was to try and make them be quite aggressive. So they did that until the performance. The performance they still kind of shied away to try and be clean. Of course, which isn’t the goal but really hard for an athlete to try and get away from so they have some growing to do but we’re very excited about them.

And then Nate and Lil – they’re in Austria right now. And I’ve worked with them since they were knee high to a grasshopper, it feels like, I’m very proud of the work. My mom and my aunt have developed the school and Sheri and Cara, my cousins, and Justin Trojek they’ve really brought them from the grassroots up. And now we’ve kind of integrated this team and we’re all working together. But we – Madi and Adri and I – feel very fortunate of the work that they’ve done to bring them to this level. So for Lil and Nate, it’s about getting them exposure this year, they were a COVID Junior Grand Prix team, you know, they were due to have some international experiences and didn’t get that –obviously – because of the pandemic. So for Skate Canada to send them to Austria was a big deal for them. That’s their first international event ever. And they started out with a bang, they’ll be skating like now-ish. And every opportunity that they get, they just seem to kind of organically grow. And we’re very, very proud of them for that. And it’s little things, you forget what this sport teaches you. But as a coach now, I reflect on it much more – rising to the moment, being good people, but demanding the most of yourself every day. It’s fun to see kids I’ve known since they were 13 and 14 and see them really grasp some of those concepts and hope that it can serve them well in their life after skating.

Yeah, I know Lily and Nathan have a lot of fans already. And they were very excited when they got an international.

Good! I’m happy for them. They have a certain quality and they relate to each other really well on the ice. And that’s becoming more and more consistent. So that’s fun.

How do you decide which programs you choreograph versus having your skaters work with other choreographers?

We’re still kind of refining that, actually. But it’s a team decision really. So we meet and we’ll decide and we’ll make different decisions. Last year, I kind of oversaw everybody and was just kind of picking and choosing I guess, and then, depending on how it was going, make little tweaks. But almost everybody on our team really believes in collaborating. Our best example of that I think is Christina and Anthony’s free dance with Madison and Marie-France.

I loved what I saw in practice.

Yeah, I can’t wait for you to see it today. And then Adri and Madi and myself, we kind of all had a hand in Phantom with Haley and Nik. So everybody kind of gets a touch and we all throw ideas around and then it’s not that complicated. We sit and we have a vote ‘What do we think we should do? What’s the best strategy?’ And then we pick and I try and steer and give as much guidance as I possibly can from my career. But the goal is to have so many good people in the room that the decisions are – maybe not everybody agrees – but we know that we can give certain projects to different people. So that part, we’re really starting to really enjoy. The first little bit, I was quite intimidated by that. Now, as I empower my team and see them really grow and blossom, it’s one of the most fun parts of the whole process.

How do you feel you’re maybe growing as a choreographer yourself?

My choreography style is changing. I was very lucky, I think, to have the influence of Marie-France and Romain. I see myself more as the element guy now a little bit, as well as like ‘Okay, that’s working. Let’s try this!’ And trying to challenge the creative team. And then I jump in and get my hands dirty on certain projects, when I feel inspired, but I think I stepped back a bit this year, for some, and that really allowed me – instead of having to do so many projects – to focus in on certain things and be a little bit cleaner. I was overwhelmed a little bit last year. So I had to kind of learn that lesson a little bit. And then my choreography style is changing, just in how I prepare. So it’s a little bit more calculated. You know, I was crazy inspired last year. But it was crazy inspired, things that I wanted to do. So I am learning. And then Marie-France and Romain, I mean that’s why I am this way. One of the reasons they’ve been so successful is how they personalise their choreography for each student. And every program is different and it plays to the strength of that particular student. So I am just starting to figure out how to use that. I think I have a long way to go. Choreography is one of the things that I enjoy doing. But it isn’t a natural strength for me, I really have to work at it and I embrace that. And I’m very proud of some of the product that we’re able to create. But I also get a huge sense of relief. Having Adri and Cara and Sheri and Madi in the rink, I can just literally cruise over and be like, ‘uggghhhhh this count of eight is killing me.’ And then they seem to be able to wave their wands. And it’s not like ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ It’s like ‘Yes, we have a sweet team!’

Do you have a particular style you prefer choreographing?

Most of the styles I prefer, I haven’t been able to do yet. I think more of the classic ice skating stuff. And then a bit more passion driven. I think we’ll get get there as our athletes mature. But yeah, I like the classic skating style. But then I also really like a bit more modern. The athletes relating to each other, being able to tell a story, kind of cat and mouse, back and forth. So that’s my strength, I think. I always really dove into that as a performer, I’d get to work with the best woman in the world, Tessa, so when we got into those energies, it was so much fun. So helping these athletes kind of create their own and how they play off each other. Obviously, it’s a little different sometimes. But I think when we have that interaction that’s more playful, that’s when the product is the best. I won’t say I’m doing my best work, because my style, mostly, is exposing what lives within the athletes. Like when I work with Marie-France, she’s a genius. She’s able to switch things and change things and has a unique perspective. She works like hell to have this. I think that’s what people don’t understand. She works for it. She puts a lot of prep time in, but there is a certain touch. She just understands the speed of the game. It’s her that convinced me that ‘No, you have to awaken it from within the kids and let them take ownership’. Especially when we get to the elite level of kids in their 20s. They’ve all grown up TikTok dancing, and they want to be involved. They would like to create [and be involved in the] process more and more. So we have to empower them to take ownership of their own work.

How did Madison and Adrian approach you?

I approached them. We had Christina and Anthony and Haley and Nik came up within the year and we were hoping for our school to continue to grow. And I worked with Madison. I worked with Madison the last couple of years on their free. I felt like, in that project, more of a passenger, that got to point out the obvious things. And they kind of ruined choreographing for me for a little bit, because they’re so damn good.

So I could be like ‘I want you to try this.’ And it wouldn’t necessarily even make sense. But Madi and Zach they can make anything [make sense]. And then the first time it’s gold, and you start to think ‘Holy shit. Maybe I am a great choreographer.’ And then you work with a 10-year-old and 12-year-old and you’re like ‘Oh, no, there we go. I’m back again.’ So when I was working with Madison, I would skate over to Patrice and Marie-France, as we’re trying to grow this academy and just be like ‘You know, Madi and I, we get each other.’ She’s a genius, and how she works through things. And I kind of said ‘I want her in London.’ And then [came] the end of Adri’s career. We grew up skating together, Adri and I, but I worked with him only twice. And I saw big change in Adri. How much he’d matured in that year, how he matured in his performance, how he matured and how he handled himself at the rink and his passion I always knew. So they’re a little bit of a dream team for me. So I’ve made a list. I won’t tell you who else is on the list, because I’m hoping that they’ll end up on our team as well – one day – but they were at the top of my list. So it was another dream come true moment. At I.AM Ontario, our wish list goes: to be an I.AM academy – which happened – and to have Madi and Adrian at our campus. So we had our two first wishes. We’re hoping for a third. They were all in as soon as we talked about it. Now we wanted to be sure because Madison still performs, and Adri – and we’ve made that very clear – if he wants to perform he should. So they have that clause too as they discover themselves. They’re allowed to do that.

So this season, a lot of changes have happened with the rules. What’s your opinion on there being no pattern in the rhythm dance?

Yeah, I go back and forth on that one. What I said yesterday in the meeting – and I have to tip my cap to the dance tech committee that they’re asking us, trying to poll everyone and to work collaboratively, you create an ice dance event that everyone likes – but I don’t mind it. I don’t think there’s a major flaw right now. I miss pattern dances a bit. The problem with pattern dances is how they’re judged. I like pattern dances because of the old-school patterns on the ice. Speed, dance position, like the older style of ice dance, and nobody really seems to care about that anymore. So I always wonder, why are we keeping it around for key points when it’s not really the spirit of the dance? But I do miss it in the program this year, I would remove PST and put pattern dance back in. I thought the choreo step is fun. I think we can change the pattern to make it even more fun. But we need to be a little bit more exciting for the audience. And I think the choreo step has done that, when people turn on and everyone has access to good dancing, so to have a little breakdown moment in the program, I think that’s fun.

What are your opinion on the new choreo elements?

Love ’em. I would take more. Yeah, I like the choreo elements. I’m a little jealous that I never got to do any of them.

Do you have a favourite, maybe?

I liked the new jumps quite a bit. I always love choreo lifts. I think we need to open the freedom of the rules as well in the lifts but I’ve really enjoyed the choreo lifts, and the jumps are kind of like mini lifts so just to have a sequence of little jumps is great too. So just to have the freedom to create.

I mean really, any of them, the slide. I’d like it if they were marked to be a little bit more subtle instead of like on the big music all the time. But we’re finding that you got to battle with what scores well and what completes the program. I’d like to see a little bit more of that but other than that I really like the choreo element. I think it’s appropriately marked, the amount of points you get is good, and it affects the second mark. It helps you build a program instead of the cookie-cutter, which is tough challenge with this new system. We call it the new system, [even though] it is 20 years old.

What’s the process like for finding music for your teams?

It’s different for everybody. We don’t give music ideas to our teams until they bring some first. So mostly our more mature teams, we discuss the direction they want to go. And we talk about it. And then pretty much, we kind of go back and talk as a coaching team and then say ‘This is kind of what we think.’ And a lot of times I’ll call Marie-France and Romain and discuss things, just to double-check, especially if they get stuck. Or even, some of the judges and people I really trust.

Sort of a bigger question. But looking back over your career, what are some of your favourite programs that you’ve done?

Well, Moulin Rouge came from Tessa and I’s heart and soul. And with Marie-France and Patrice and Sam all collaborating – It’s a special one. It’s not the most original one or groundbreaking, but it came from our souls. And we love the music. And so that was probably my favourite in the end. And then programs are so much about the maturity of, I guess, the stage of maturing that you’re at. And little ones like Valse Triste, Umbrellas, you know, they have a special place in my heart as well. And also, we went back into Pink Floyd for our last number, because the Pink Floyd free dance is probably the project that I connected with the most. It felt like a great opportunity. And we didn’t get the chance to really train it and deliver it as we wanted. That’s hard. I mean, it’s art, right? So I think depending on what phase I’m in in life, I like to go into different directions at different times. But I think Moulin Rouge because it’s kind of the culmination of all of them into one program.

What’s it like training skaters that grew up being a fan of yours and see you as an idol?

I think it’s a bit of a challenge, actually. A lot of them are fans. And naturally, they kind of want to be like you. But of course, sport is so revolutionary. If they’re like me, they’re not gonna do very well, even now, it’s four years out. There’s a challenge in getting them to believe in themselves. And it’s powerful because I can remind them of the stages. Even the athletes that I train – they see me in 2018 and assume that that was me in 2008 or in 1998. That’s just not the case, my coaches will tell you that.

Did you use any music now that you vetoed from your career?

There are a couple of pieces that we ended up using. To be honest Christina and Anthony’s Summertime – Tess and I always wanted to use. We love the score, but we just didn’t have the piece to go with it. We also talked about using it for Madison. And when Marie-France brought it back on the table this year – and with that first little cool piece – it was kind of one that we had always wanted to skate to and brought it back for the students. But there’s a couple of those kicking around, I’d say, yeah.

Might we see another one in the future for one of your teams?

Yeah, I don’t know. It’d be interesting. Our teams are developing so much and hopefully maturing, day in and day out. So it’s tough to tell where they’ll end up in a year’s time or so.

Do you have the same coaching method for every team or do you adapt to different teams?

I adapt on certain things. I try my best, anyways, to adapt to things. I’m still getting my legs in coaching. But most teams need different things, from team to team and we’re an elite sport. So it needs to be a personalised plan, not everyone’s gonna come to conclusions the same way. So I try and motivate. Mostly what I do is to coach every day [like I coach] in competition. So they’re not surprised.

Do you think your time as a skater and longevity as a skater helps you coach a different way?

I think so. Well, it’s the same thing with longevity as a coach. Every experience brings lessons and kind of puts more tools in your toolbox that you can use. So I think so, I really think it does. We were in a lot of situations and can at least understand what the athletes are going through. And I think that’s what makes me a powerful young coach, just because it wasn’t that long ago. I remember some of the feelings exactly. So the hard part of that is putting it through the right filter and making sure that it’s what’s right for them, not how I handled it. I can sympathise with what they’re feeling. But then help them come to a solution that’s right for them.

With Christina and Anthony – Anthony had surgery in February, I think you said, and was off the ice for some time. You’ve sort of been in the opposite situation.

Yeah, I’ve been in Christina’s shoes.

Did that sort of experience help you with how to help Christina during that time?

It did help me build a plan for Christina. I will say I was pretty shocked with how little help Christina needed. She handled the time off brilliantly. She came in, did her work and did a couple of extra projects. That filled her cup – things you wouldn’t usually get to do, like that ice princess movie thing that she did. I think there were dancers and Sam Chouinard choreographed some stuff so they were in the background. And so she was in Montreal for a couple of weeks doing that. But then pecking away, working a lot on her turns. They came in April – May, really – of last year, and then we started to pick things apart and work on everything. And there were a lot of things that she caught up on in that time when she was off – some of her turns – and to see her technical scores at this competition reflect that made me happy. But also she didn’t get crazy about it either. You know, from my experience, I was like ‘Okay, I’m gonna really go for it – really improve.’ And when Tessa came back, I wasn’t supportive, and I was kind of aggressively ready to go. And Christina was super supportive to Anthony, worked on all of her stuff, improved day in day out. So I thought she really handled that masterfully.

You had two couples here in Sheffield [Haley Sales/Nikolas Wamsteeker & Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko.] What were your overall thoughts on their performances?

I think it’s kind of very different performances. For Christina and Anthony, it’s the first competition of the year. So they’ve been doing really well with Anthony’s recovery and his ankle, but they’re stepping in with teams that have competed three or four times already. And they are coming off a really frustrating year for them. So I think it was a big week for them to perform and it filled them with quite a bit of pressure. And you started to see some of their maturity come through a little bit, where they relied on their training, focused on the cues that we’ve been working on at home, and had excellent performances. Which is exactly what they have been doing in training.

Haley and Nik had a bit of a tough week. They were struggling with a little bit of some sickness, but have been training quite well. And this week, it wasn’t the skating that I’ve been seeing at home. It was still strong, there were no major errors. So I think people need to remember and understand that the heat of competition can be crippling, and the pressure is much greater than the run-throughs they do day in and day out. So I think they felt that pressure a little bit. But they were able to still compete well, at least. Good, with no major mistakes. But they’re missing a little bit of the magic that makes Haley and Nik Haley and Nick.

Their connection and speed across the ice is a big one. And then just a little bit of the finish on their elements. They’re fantastic lifters, but they’re starting to understand how to move on the ice as well throughout their footworks, particularly him. And this week, under the pressure, we kind of went back a little bit to square movements and not letting the glide at the blade be effortless and in ice dance, you know, you really pay the price for that. It’s a great exposure for them to be at a Grand Prix, just like last year, and every time they get out, they learned more and more. And so we’ll sit down and take the lessons from this one and rebuild for the next couple competitions.

Do you set goals for your skaters each season or maybe each competition?

We set goals – the skaters set goals and I help them. I kind of see myself as the consultant. And they’re in charge. They’re driving the ship as it may be. So yeah, we set goals and we renew those goals often and share them with the team and then make sure that they’re very clear and honest with their team and themselves on what their goals are. It’d be different goals than you’d think. So very rarely, or most of the time, it’s not on placement or comparison. It’s more so on performance or getting levels or points. But, I mean, you could have seen a little bit of that as well too, with Haley and Nik. We certainly, and they certainly, don’t see themselves as that far behind the other Canadian team. And they were yesterday. And they didn’t have a great skate, but I think it kind of deflated them a little bit. We’ll be looking for them to respond a little bit better the next time that that happens and hopefully, that didn’t get the best of them. We’ll be doing kind of a recap.That’s the part I love about coaching, right? You get those lessons and sport is a beautiful thing. It’s not always pretty, it’s not always triumphant. But most of the time it gives you what you deserve, you can take what you must from it and then we have a great opportunity to grow.

What are your thoughts overall on this competition, the crowd here?

I’d like to come back every year, if I’m being honest. Britain did a really fantastic job – England and the city of Sheffield – of hosting this event. The crowd was electric. You know, I kind of liked the smaller venue, everybody in their seats, ready. It was a full arena at every event, and that brought a certain amount of energy to the building. I think, still recovering from COVID, with people not used to skating in front of groups – like some of these young athletes, you forget, they came up during COVID. So they haven’t had these big moments. I think of Lilah and Lewis in front of a home crowd with a packed stadium. That’s a pretty cool moment for them. So we really enjoyed our time here in Sheffield, and it says a lot I think about the British ice dancing fan or the ice skating fan. Happy that they were able to step up and host a Grand Prix.

I think that’s almost everything I wanted to ask. Away from skating, what are the sorts of things you do to de-stress?

Well I’m doing lots of things now, away from skating. Settling into a bit more of a, quote-unquote normal life, or at least a rhythm in life. Everyone talks about the transition from being an athlete, and I was definitely no different. I never, or haven’t yet, had depression, or any of that stuff, but certainly, it’s just finding your rhythm, right? And what you’re gonna do, even like the first little bit, you have a cheeseburger or a beer, and be like ‘Oh, I’m so bad.’ And then it’d be like, wait, no, I’m 35, this is very normal. So it still just kind of catches me off guard that stuff. But I’m very fortunate, I found the love of my life. And we got married earlier this year. So that took up a lot of our time. And we have a baby girl. So that has enriched my life in a way that you expect and everyone warns you about, but I just had no way of preparing for it – knowing how beautiful it was going to be. And then I play sports and I’m not great at very many of them. I’m on the ice every day, but I still play hockey a couple of times a week. And then I’m Canadian, so I curl a little bit, twice a week now, too. So we’re busy. We’re a busy family. And then the life of a skating coach feels like it’s 24/7 a little bit, so there’s not a lot of extra time left in the Moir household!

—Anything GOEs

#scott #off ice #i.am ontario #coach #mk john wilson 2022 #interview: anything goes #i hope scott never loses the ramble quality #and hearing his thoughts about choreo #if tessa even hinted at wanting it #he'd have her in a binding contract with i.am

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