Canberra sport loses a legend: Vale Bob Mouatt

When I came to Canberra to join the ABC in 1988, it’s fair to say my knowledge of orienteering bordered on non-existent.

Little did I know that from day one in the sports department, and for the next 30 years, I was in for a constant education.

The man who seemingly declared it his mission to give orienteering the same profile as the Raiders and Cannons back in the day was Bob Mouatt.

Bob worked the Canberra sports media off a break.

He would personally deliver the latest news from the world of ACT Orienteering every week.

I’m sure he monitored every news bulletin because if there was no mention of his chosen sport a couple of hours after dropping off information to all relevant journalists, Bob would question whether it would be in the next bulletin.

There had to be a solid excuse for it not being there. He would ring from far-flung locations around Australia, filing reports on events involving ACT orienteers.

For television, he encouraged journalists to take part in a social run, which would then become an on-air story.

He knew every trick in the book to get coverage.

As a result, orienteers in the ACT received more exposure through the media than the rest of the country combined.

It was only a couple of years ago, when I did a story on ACT Orienteering’s 50th birthday in 2021, that I learned that he worked in IT at ASIO and, before that, had a career in the Air Force.

This is as he told it back in 2021 when he reflected on the impact the sport had on his life: “I started as a runner, and it went from my first event in June 1977, at what was the Greenhills Forest, which is where the Arboretum is now, to becoming my sport for life.”

He wasn’t a natural at the sport.

“I was a poor navigator back in those days. When the sport started, it had black and white maps, but when I started in 1977, only coloured maps were being used. The accuracy of the maps is far more precise these days. I often got lost in the early days.”

Bob’s embrace of orienteering benefited the sport enormously.

He held numerous administrative positions, including president of Orienteering Australia. He was the ACT executive director, a board member for 11 years, a national development officer, an event organiser and a race promoter.

If it happened in orienteering during his time, you can be certain Bob had a significant role in putting it together.

And as he explained to me in 2021. His enthusiasm for the city matched his passion for orienteering.

“Canberra is the best place in the world for orienteering,” according to Bob. “There’s no city in the world with as many nature parks.”

Bob was recognised with many awards for his efforts to promote the sport, including an OAM in 2010. He was inducted into the ACT Sport Hall of Fame as an associate member in 2013.

It is with a heavy that we say farewell to a man who can justifiably be referred to as a legend of his chosen sport.

And many will be forever grateful that Bob’s chosen sport was orienteering.