Lives of Consequence
Rich Moses ’89
Director and Coach, HEADstrong Lacrosse Texas
Until 2007, Richard N. Moses '89 worked as an investment banker, first with PaineWebber in New York, followed by a move in 1996 to London, where he finished his financial career at RBS Greenwich Capital as a director of fixed income sales. Then, after nearly 20 years selling bonds, Moses moved with his family to Dallas, Texas, where he started coaching youth lacrosse.
"I saw the landscape changing," Moses says of his move from the financial sector. "My wife and I had kids and decided we were tired of the banking world. I got out at the right time. I was approached with a coaching opportunity at the right time and fell in love with it."
Growing up on Long Island, Moses attended St. Mary's High School where he was a teammate of Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala and legendary Cornell University and World Team goalie Paul Schimoler. Moses won two Long Island Catholic League Championships and earned All League honors his junior and senior years as captain and leading scorer on his squad. At Hobart, he played on three National Championship teams and as a senior was awarded the Noel Filipino Award for outstanding sportsmanship and team play.
Moses had been coaching youth lacrosse in the Dallas area for a few years when a good friend was diagnosed with leukemia, which prompted Moses and others to organize a stem cell drive. That drive, and the outpouring of support, "amazed and inspired" Moses to channel his passion for lacrosse into battling cancer.
Tom Gravante '88, a former Hobart teammate and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor, put Moses in touch with the HEADstrong Foundation, which works with individuals and families, athletes and teams, schools, universities, companies and organizations to offer resources for blood cancer patients and their families. The HEADstrong Lacrosse Club, a division of the HEADstrong Foundation, promotes blood cancer awareness and provides services to local communities. Over the past five years, the lacrosse club has established itself as a preeminent lacrosse organization that has grown nationally to provide players with an unmatched standard of excellence, both athletically and academically.
As director and coach of HEADstrong Lacrosse Texas, Moses divides his time between fundraising, coaching and coordinating the logistics of the program.
"It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done," he says. "To awaken youth athletes to the bigger picture, to the real world -- it's extremely rewarding to see a team accomplish great things on and off the field and raise money for a cause like blood cancer."
Moses is also the youth coordinator for the Highland Park, Texas, Lacrosse Club, as well as the head coach of the 7/8th Championship Team. He is a board member of Bridge Lacrosse, which helps bring lacrosse to and develop afterschool programs in non-traditional lacrosse communities. He also is heavily involved in organizing the Patriot Cup Dallas, a weekend tournament at Southern Methodist University featuring Division 1, Division 3 and high school players, with all proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project. In 2015, Moses was honored at the 5th annual HEADstrong Gala in Philadelphia with the Relentless Award for his contributions to the sport.
"So often lacrosse can be about wins and losses," he says. "For the community, it's great to see that there are other ways to go about the game. It's cool when you get into a huddle and instead of saying ‘let's beat the other team,' it's ‘let's beat blood cancer.'"
Throughout his coaching, Moses remembers the advice of his own coach -- the legendary former Hobart lacrosse head coach David Urick: "The game of lacrosse has given you a lot. Be sure to give something back."