PLAYER PROFILES
DANIEL AND
SCOTT MOORE
Father and Son Epitomize
Family Fervor for Pickleball
For father-and-son pickleball players Daniel
and Scott Moore, pickleball has become a
family affair.
“A good friend named John Foss asked me
the fateful question, ‘Do you want to play
pickleball with me?’” Scott, 53, says. “I tried it
and loved it.”
Daniel, 26, got involved with the game after
his dad invited him
to play. “My dad was
playing, so when I was
home, he got me out
on the court,” he says.
While the Moores
have been playing for a
few years, it didn’t take
long for each of them
to excel at the sport.
In 2014, in their first
match together, they
beat the defending
national champions
at the Tournament
of Champions. They
played well together,
but decided that in
2015 they should split
up to play with others
their own age.
“He [Scott] will say that I fired him after
nationals, but really we mutually agreed that
it would be better to play with other people,”
says Daniel, who works as a tour leader for a
guiding company called Walk Japan.
By splitting up, the two found even more
tournament success. Scott accomplished a
trifecta at the two premier tournaments,
first sweeping the Legends doubles, mixed
doubles and singles at the Tournament of
Champions, and then repeating the feat at the
USAPA Nationals VII, held in Casa Grande,
Arizona, in November. By the end of the year,
he had earned 20 gold and five silver medals,
including several in the open singles and
doubles categories.
Daniel won both the 19+ age and open
singles divisions at the 2014 USAPA nationals.
In 2015, he double dipped at the Tournament
of Champions,
winning the masters
singles and also
teaming with Matt
Staub to win doubles
as well. Then, at the
USAPA Nationals
Tournament, he won
gold in the men’s
19+ singles division
and men’s open
doubles, partnering
with Matthew Blom,
and earned silver
in the open singles,
establishing him as
the top overall player
in the game.
Both men say they
appreciate the mental
and physical aspects of the game.
“It is a general equalizer. Speed and
power is not as big of a factor as most
sports, and therefore a person in his or her
50s can potentially compete with those
in their 20s,” says Scott, who also enjoys
golf, snowboarding, and tennis. “It can be
physically challenging, but it is also extremely
intellectually engaging, as you have to be very
patient and calculating, almost like a chess
game, to think ahead and set up your points in
order to gain the advantage.”
It’s a great
sport and you
meet people
you never
would have
otherwise.
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Daniel, who was once an avid tennis player,
agrees. “When you get to the higher levels, it
requires so much patience and thinking,” he
says. “You can’t just attack. You have to bide
your time, set up the point and pounce when
the time is right.”
Scott, a self-described “serial entrepreneur”
who resides in Colorado Springs, is a
sponsored professional for Paddletek paddles
and Babolat shoes, as well as an exclusive
master distributor for Paddletek. Daniel is an
international distributor for Paddletek.
Both father and son are world travelers;
Scott has traveled to more than 60 countries
and is fluent in Japanese, and conversant in
Spanish.
Daniel was born in Atlanta and moved to
Japan with his family when he was 7. He has
lived in Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, and
Nairobi, Kenya. He is now living once again in
Ueda, Japan, where he is trying to grow the
country’s interest in pickleball.
“It’s a great sport and you meet people you
never would have otherwise,” says Daniel.
“It’s a great way to get back into competition
without all of the training and intensity that a
sport like tennis requires. It’s an easy, fun way
to get exercise and meet people.”
The Moores have played all over the world
and have presented clinics in half of the states
in the U.S. as well as Spain, Portugal, Japan
and Mexico.
“It is easy to find someone to play with, is
extremely inexpensive, and can be played in
almost any city you visit,” says Scott. “We are
traveling the world playing pickleball, making
new friends, and are attempting to make
pickleball not only the fastest-growing sport
in America, but also in the world.” •