WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Tony Arriaga came from a home of financial hardship, so he didn't get to play team sports as a kid. His goal has always been to give his daughters a better than his.
"Seeing that effect on myself, I always tell my kids, 'We're going to get you into multiple sports and make sure you have the equipment and everything that you need,'" said Arriaga.
His daughters needed new softball gloves, they wanted custom gloves, but they were expensive, so he made his own.
Relacing, painting and recreating gloves evolved into a business, Beehive Gloves.
"I want to show a positive image for the community. Me coming from nothing as a kid, to where I'm at now, I want to make sure the youth can say, 'hey, if he can do it, so can I,'" Arriaga reflected.
His custom glove company runs on his customers' happiness.
"Once I saw my own daughter's reactions, it really just lit a fire under me," he explained. "This is something that not only brings happiness to athletes, but it brings me happiness because I didn't have that glove, I didn't have that bat."
Team USA U15 athlete, Kenya Lapuaho wore one of Tony's handcrafted gloves when she competed in Japan.
"It makes me feel swaggy," said Lapuaho, "I feel cool, everyone is looking at me like 'that's a nice glove.'"
"To see my glove in a whole other country and to see the attention that it got was really special. It's not every day that happens," Arriaga explained.
He's taking his abilities to bring a glove back to life by partnering with Hunter Cyprus Baseball.
"We'll take new gloves, used gloves, whatever comes our way. I'll refurbish them, recondition them and give them to the kids at Hunter Cyprus," Arriaga added, "I always have said, 'I'd rather have a kid playing sports, than out on the streets.'"
Hunter Cyprus Baseball's entire board is volunteers. The youth organization's president wants to see the sport thrive.
"I want to see the community thrive...Hunter Cyprus is the last standing and I want to see it thrive," said Jessie Ellers, the president of Hunter Cyprus Baseball.
To get involved or donate to Hunter Cyprus Baseball, click here.
