By, Dylan Nazareth

To call Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys’ final year competing in juniors a success would be an understatement.

Early in the season, the young Ontarian ice dance team set a personal best total score (161.83) and took home gold at a Junior Grand Prix stop in Riga, Latvia. Later in the fall, they neared that total with a new personal best in the free dance (97.84) to earn silver at the JGP in Gdansk, Poland. After those strong showings, they came out with a fifth-place finish at the JGP Final in December, won their second Junior National Championship in January, and then rounded it out with a fourth-place finish at Junior Worlds in early March.

Speaking with Skate Ontario following that final competition, the London-based pair shared how proud they were to end the season with their highest-ever placement at Junior Worlds. 

“It was a great competition for us,” Veillon said. “Obviously this whole season we really had the desire to come out with a bang and just push ourselves. And I think Worlds was just a great end to this season. We put out two skates that we were really proud of, that were skated the way we’ve been training them.”

After wrapping up a busy season, it wasn’t long before Veillon and Brandys were back on the ice. Carrying momentum from a set of strong competitions, they’re already looking at how they can up their game next year. 

“We had a week off (after Junior Worlds),” Veillon said. “Now, training is kind of the same in terms of amount of time on the ice. But obviously we’re just kind of creating new things, exploring new ideas for music and then just like working on skating skill type stuff.”

Steady Improvement

In the 2024-25 season, Veillon and Brandys failed to earn a spot at Junior Worlds after a third-place finish at Junior Nationals. Having won their first Junior National title the season prior, this year they were determined to put out their best skating to get back on top. That showed from the start of the season, and they didn’t slow down from there.

“The consistency that we’ve had this year has really helped with our confidence,” Veillon said. ”Just with lots of feedback from all different aspects. Like with our coaching, Skate Canada, just hearing the growth and hearing them tell us about the growth we’ve had, I think it definitely helps us.”

“Yeah, this year, I was mainly thinking of personal growth versus trying to improve something,” Brandys added. “That kind of helps. Just to give motivation for just improving, getting better ourselves, versus worrying about others.”

That maturity showed as they managed consistent results in competitions throughout the season, and it comes from a mentality instilled in them from one of their coaches, Olympic champion Scott Moir.

“We had nothing to lose this season, so we really just tried to focus on ourselves,” Veillon said. “Even when we’d be asked, like, do you want to win? 
Do you want this? We’d always say, that’s always great. But Scott always tells us the experiences are what’s most important. And in years to come, you’re gonna look back and remember the performances where you put out skates like you wanted, not the marks, not the results. So I think that was a driving force for us this year, and I think like Alex said, that’s what helped was the personal motivation.”

It Takes a Village

Beyond Scott, their coaching team at the Ilderton Skating Club includes the likes of Cara Moir and Alma Moir, who first paired them up at just nine years old. Over a decade later, they are still going strong thanks to that variety of voices supporting them.

“Scott’s very motivating, very hyper,” Brandys said. “He keeps the energy up in the rink, I’d say.”

“Also just with all of our coaches, their different perspectives and experiences with ice dance really help us in navigating through the great experiences, but also the hard times,” Veillon added. “The competitions or the training days that aren’t ideal, or don’t go exactly how you want them. Just helping us through that. I definitely think one of their strengths is having that experience in the shoes that we’re in.”

This season, they also worked with a variety of other experts to push their craft even higher.

“I think we’ve improved a lot in being expressive on the ice,” Brandys said. “I feel like we’ve been doing really well in trying to convey a story that we’re trying to tell with our programs. I felt like that came out pretty well. We definitely worked on that a lot with a lot of different coaches, dance teachers, a lot of different people.”

Of course, to skate so passionately for over a decade takes more than just a strong team of coaches, but a solid support system as well. As they look to make the next step in their career, Veillon spoke about some of the other people who have helped them over the past few years.

“Apart from our coaches on the ice, we have our sports psychologist, who has been a game-changer this year in just helping us with nerves and expectations,” she said. “And obviously, we have the great support system of Skate Ontario. Chris Mabee, he’s been a huge help in providing opportunities for us, to help with the mental side, as well as the physical side. So yeah, lots of great people behind us, because it does definitely take a village.”