Alma Moir has been the head coach of the Figure Skating team at Western since 1978. The Mustangs have experienced recent success, winning the OUA figure skating championships in 2006-07, 2007-08, 2010-11, and 2014-15.
Since the first time that her blades scratched the ice, nothing about figure skating has changed for Alma Moir. The smell of the Zamboni, 6 a.m. practices and the freezing cold arena air still hold the same significance and feelings as a coach that they did when she started figure skating over 40 years ago.
Growing up, Alma figure skated in North Bay, Ontario. A singles skater, Moir was acknowledged with gold medals for her competition performances and also achieved gold level tests in figures, freeskate, dance and free-dance.
Although she is not a London, Ontario, native, Moir’s roots are found deep in the ice at Western. The varsity skating coach chose the school as her post- secondary educational institution of choice, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education. Through her years at Western, Alma was a member of the school’s skating team winning many OWIIA gold medals and also taking on the role as student coach. In 1978, Moir took over as head coach and, aside from taking a few years off to focus on her children, has held the position ever since.
Skating has always been a family-oriented activity for Moir. Growing up, she skated with her twin sister Carol and was coached by her older sister Margaret for several years. When she herself became a coach and later a mother, her sons also began skating. Currently, her son Danny and niece Leanne have been assisting Alma in her coaching efforts at Western. Her son, Scott Moir, won an Olympic gold medal in 2010. Scott and his skating partner, Tessa Virtue, are well-known and celebrated locally as well as internationally.
As a varsity skating coach, Alma gives all of herself to her students. Although she also works as an administrator at the Ilderton Skating Club as a professional coach, Alma has still managed to coach Western’s skating team to 10 OUA championships, entering her 37th season. She says that the hardest part about becoming a coach is that she gets more nervous than when skating herself, demonstrating just how much she invests in each of her disciples.
To Moir, being a figure skating coach is not only about teaching axels and laybacks, it’s about teaching life. Training skills such as “work habits, reliability, commitment, trying your best [and] handling success and failures” are important to Alma as she knows that these qualities will stick with her skaters long after they have hung up their skates. This attitude, the commitment and dedication to each of her skaters as well as her passion for the sport is why Alma Moir has brought such success to the figure skating program and the skaters at Western for so many years.
Updated on May 24, 2017
