CLASSROOM CHAMPIONS
Virtue, Moir headed to yyc event
They skated their way into the hearts of people across the globe, their gold medal performance in Pyeongchang last month making them the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history.
They charmed sports fans to such a degree that the “Are they or aren’t they in love?” question was asked by everyone from TV pundits to fans on social media.
Steve Mesler readily admits he’s a big Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir fan — and not just for the artistry and proficiency that won them the gold medal in ice dancing at last month’s Winter Olympics.
“They are terrific both on and off the ice,” says Mesler, an American expat who won Olympic gold in bobsled at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as part of Team U.S.A. “They’re great ambassadors for their sport.”
They’re also poised to be great ambassadors for Classroom Champions, the Calgary-based, North America-wide organization that Mesler, who has called Calgary home since 2003, co-founded in 2010 with his sister, Leigh Parise.
The two figure skaters are set to glide into town on April 20, to participate in the organization’s third annual fundraising luncheon. Justin Kripps, who won bobsled gold in Pyeongchang, will join them for Champion Chats 2018: Stories from the Podium. (For info on the event and tickets, go to classroomchampions.org.)
“Their lives are insane right now,” says Mesler of the talented twosome, whose appearance at the event will mark their first official Calgary visit since their victorious return to Canada. They will also be in Calgary on May 12, as part of the Stars on Ice tour at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“But they were happy to help us get the word out on Classroom Champions,” he adds. “I think Calgary is going to love it.”
Mesler knows that having the two superstar athletes at his event is an incredible coup, but incredible is something that comes to him naturally. After becoming the first American man in 62 years to bring home bobsled gold, he was determined to find a way to help mentor young people in every aspect of their lives.
“I remember coming back from another one-off school visit, telling my sister I didn’t feel like I was doing anything,” he says. He wasn’t just venting, but asking the advice of a sibling who just happened to have a PhD in education.
The two decided to form Classroom Champions, which he initially thought of as a one-year project, to start right before heading into his final Olympics as a competitor. “We chose eight classrooms,” says Mesler, Classroom Champions’ president and CEO, of that first year. “We did Skype with kids from the Whistler Village and then I visited with them. We got amazing feedback from the teachers, that this was changing the culture and fabric of their classrooms.”
Mesler couldn’t have known then that within less than a decade, he would be leading a $1.8-million charitable organization with more than 100 Olympians, Paralympians, pro football players and university athletes, mentoring to more than 25,000 children from high-needs schools and communities across the continent.
“My sister and I shake our heads, we can’t believe how it became this great thing that has impacted so many.”
In 2016, the athletic starstudded annual fundraiser was brought to life largely thanks to the late George Gosbee, who died of suicide late last year. “With the economy lagging, we had lost some sponsors and needed to do something big,” says Mesler. Gosbee, a local businessman and former co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes NHL franchise, brought in such sports luminaries as players Tie Domi and Shane Doan, Calgary Flames president, hockey operations Brian Burke and Olympians like speedskater Denny Morrison and bobsledder Kaillie Humphries.
“George struggled with a lot of things,” says Mesler, noting that Gosbee’s widow Karen — who has spoken out about mental health issues in the wake of her husband’s death — was on Classroom Champions’ founding board when he brought it to Canada. “But when he put his mind to something, this was what happened. He reached out to his entire network and raised a lot of money for us.”
For the 2018 Champion Chats, Mesler took a page from Gosbee and dreamed big: he reached out to Calgary-based Russell Reimer, who represents Virtue and Moir through Manifesto Sport Management.
“Scott and Tessa are great role models and their story is very much what we share with kids,” he says. “They got back up after disappointment in Sochi and came out on top, in such ridiculous fashion.”
Kripps says he’s thrilled to lend his new, higher profile as a gold medallist to the cause.
“You want to give back when you have the platform to do so,” says the native of Summerland, B.C., who lives in Calgary.
“I remember when I was a kid, having Olympians and pro athletes come to visit,” he says. “It motivated me to get involved in sport.”
When asked about sharing this other kind of podium with Virtue and Moir, Kripps chuckles.
“They’re good friends of mine, so it’ll be nice to catch up with them,” he says, adding that when it comes to stealing the spotlight, “they won’t have to try too hard.”