Getting the chance to chat with Scott Moir was a treat in itself; especially since I thought that when I interviewed his partner Tessa Virtue about the upcoming season, I assumed she was speaking for both of them. Turns out I was off base and Scott wanted the chance to speak for himself.
Taking on more of the spirit of a “what I did on my Summer vacation piece” I asked Scott what he liked best about the summer time. His response was immediate: “Fricket!” Huh? “I love playing fricket in the backyard with my family. It’s a game we made up in Ilderton with the family and when ‘the brothers’ (Charlie and Danny) get home that’s their favourite activity.” Scott claims to be the best at it and frequently wins the tournaments. In case you want to play Fricket, you need a Frisbee and two poles with cups on them at some distance away – the object is to throw the Frisbee and knock the cups off for points.
It struck me that maybe he would be forthcoming with more bits and pieces, so I ventured: “Hey Scott did you ever fail a dance test?”

He said “I’ve never failed a dance test butI did fail a skills test – skills 3 – and I cried a lot. It was a really hard one and it was back when skills tests were to the music. My Aunt (Carol) told me that I was only 11 and I would be ok.”
Who partnered the future Olympic Champion on dance tests? Up until the 14-Step, after which Tessa and Scott partnered each other, it was his cousin Kara Moir. “She was two years older and able to handle me.”

Beyond the easy going nature is a very thoughtful young man who finds his inspiration in a number of different places. For instance, he loves biographies and is always interested in how successful people have come to realize their goals. He recently finished reading a biography about UFC fighter Chuck Liddell and although he isn’t into UFC, he was interested in the training methods and approach.

For the moment he is reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and says: “it is one of those general philosophies and it has in it its original text and II take that an I think that I have a lot more reading to do but so far it’s very interesting. There is some stuff about war and battle that doesn’t have a lot do about ice dancing but the theory? Yes.”

In 50 years time he hopes that he and Tessa will have had an impact on young people and will have inspired kids to get out and move and not just be in front of the TV. Scott says: “Kids don’t get out in the backyard as much as they even did when I was a kid and I would like to change that.”
Was there anything else new that he wanted to share? Yes. Scott is looking beyond his recent Olympic glory and is trying his hand at a new sport. It seems that there are these coupons in his rink for one free game at the nearby Super Bowl Canton and he and buddies Deividas Stagniunas and Chris Mior have taken up 10 pin bowling. Scott is having so much fun that he recently bought himself a brand new 14 pound gray and red ball (that he swears smells like cherries) with “brand new drill” (the finger holes) and his initials above the holes. Bowling?!? Who knew?
Whether it’s bowling or bowling people over, Scott Moir is on to something.

Tagged with: