Moon, Richard Harry

BORN SEPTEMBER 6TH 1979 in Motherwell, Scotland, the son of Jean and Harry Moon, Richard moved to Canberra with his family in 1984 and attended the Richardson, Chisholm, Gilmore and Farrer primary schools, and later Melrose High. In 1988, at the age of 9, he began ice hockey development school as a forward and defenseman in the local under-13 and under-15 leagues. In 1989, at the age of 10, he represented the ACT in the President's Cup under-13 ice hockey National Championships at Sydney’s Canterbury ice rink. He also finished second in the pairs events of the local ACT Ice Skating Club Championships with Sarah Davida-McDonald, which earned him a spot at the Australian Institute of Sport camp for elite ice skaters.

In 1990, he placed first in the Aussie Skate, Pairs Cup, Ritche Trophy and Club Championships (Pairs), second in the Club Championships (singles), and third in the interstate competition at Blacktown ice rink. At the President’s Cup in Bendigo, where the ACT finished fourth, he made the All-star Team with David Lewis and goalie Nat Button. The ACT were runners-up in the President’s Cup at home in 1991, and Richard made the 17-man all-star team with teammates David Lewis and Adam Symonds. He finished in the top four in all local and interstate ice skating competitions he entered that year, and competed in his first National Ice Skating Championships as a member of the Kinetic Kids precision team, with sister Julie and teammates Steven and Melissa Deans. He also finished in fifth place in the Primary Men's Division.

In 1992, he played for the Philpot and Defris (U15) trophies and, voted Most Valuable Forward of the President’s Cup in Adelaide, made the cut for the Red Deer International Under-15 Ice Hockey Tournament in Alberta at 14, with 20 other local players. He was offered a scholarship to attend high school and play ice hockey in the United States. He continued to compete locally and interstate, and finished third in the National Ice Skating Championships in Victoria, and again in Queensland in 1993.

He made the 1st-line All-star Team and camp when the ACT were runners-up in the 1993 Defris Trophy, and the second All-star line of the Tange Trophy. In December, he represented Australia in the Under-15 Royal Canadian League 18th Annual International Pee Wee Tournament in Red Deer, Alberta, with 20 teams from Finland, Russia, Britain, Canada and the USA.

In 1994, he again made the Defris 1st line All-star Team, and Best Forward and Most Valuable Player of the Bantam league (U15) Whalers ice hockey club championships. The next season he completed the AIS "Program of Excellence" ice hockey camp and was Best Team Player of the Whalers. MVP and a 2nd-line Tange Trophy All-star that year, he retired from figure skating for ice hockey.

The Canberra Knights 1996 Rookie of the Year and MVP of the Heaton Trophy, his club made the semi-finals in the East Coast Ice Hockey League Championships. He joined the Advanta Panthers junior ice hockey team in Boston, USA, and made the finals of the North American Winter Fest of the Metropolitan Hockey League. He also competed with the Panthers in the CAN/Am Challenge Cup in Lake Placid, attending Acton-Boxborough Junior High for three years, before returning to Canberra in 1999.

In 1998, when Richard returned from the USA for a short period, he won a Goodall Cup with the ACT at Canterbury ice rink in Sydney. In 2001, he represented Australia in the IIHF Division 2 World Championships in Majadahonda, Spain, coached by Kelly Lovering, bringing a bronze medal home to Canberra. He joined the Canberra Knights in the AIHL and took up the infamous #66 until 2011.

Richard died on March 8th 2018. He was 38.