Former Pickleball Rising Star Daniel Moore Finds Peace as Sport’s Ambassador in Japan – Pickleball News Asia

Moore first encountered pickleball in November 2013, and a year later he was a national champion. He went on to win eight more titles through 2017 but ultimately had to make a fateful choice between two loves. All the while, as he was rising through the ranks in the US amateur pickleball circuit, Daniel Moore was also working as a tour guide. He later pondered giving up his day job, which he so loved, in favour of pursuing a career in pickleball. But he realised soon enough that he “wanted to work in travel and as a business owner” more than being a pickleball pro.

Long story short, he chose his day job.

But Daniel Moore didn’t necessarily give up pickleball completely. In 2015, Moore started offering pickleball tours for friends. Three years later, in 2018, he launched Pickleball Trips to professionalise his idea. Then, in 2019, he focused on giving pickleball tours in Japan even though “there was no interest in it at the time”, according to Moore himself.

That was seven years ago, when pickleball wasn’t at all a thing in Japan and was just slowly creeping up in Asia.

Now, the tables have turned. Pickleball is getting bigger and bigger in Japan and all of Asia, and Daniel Moore’s pickleball-inspired tours have unsurprisingly become quite a hit among tourists. In fact, he now takes part in about 20 to 30 pickleball promotional events each year. Additionally, he now plans about 20 tours a year in Japan and overseas, including a few where he himself is the actual tour guide.

Moore’s pickleball tours aim to revitalise destinations in Japan that aren’t necessarily considered tourist hotspots. He also looks to make sure tourists are able to connect with the locals, and one way he does that is by organising pickleball matches between tourists and local pickleball players.

These efforts aren’t lost on Gaku Hirasawa, the mayor of Yamanouchi, a town near Nakano where Moore has established his base of operations.

“I’ve met [Moore] many times. He’s mild-mannered and loves the nature in this area. It’s very heartening for us,” Hirasawa told Nikkei Asia.

According to Hirasawa himself, Yamanouchi is already considering building a dedicated pickleball court because of the sport’s growing popularity in the town, and as a way to help out in Daniel Moore’s pickleball tours.

Indeed, Daniel Moore has found his calling. That it happens to combine two of his greatest loves—being a tour guide and pickleball—only makes it sweeter.