By Gretchen Pahia
Kids and sports go together like peanut butter and jelly. And often the biggest cheerleaders and support are the moms and dads behind those young athletes.
Valley mom Tori Hauser is no exception and she decided to not only support in the background but stand up and do something to help her son and his baseball teammates. Hauser’s son Liam plays for the Tempe South Little League and the bats her son must carry in his pack to practice were causing issues – dinging everything from cars to windows and walls, as well as something a bit more dangerous – heads.
Hauser was on a mission to not only make Liam’s life a little easier, but to make her baseball mom life, and the lives of all other baseball moms and dads, not so much of a struggle all the time.
She says that she knew there had to be a better way of transporting the gear her son needed for practice and games, so she created one on her own. “ReadyBat is a cushioned cover that goes over the handle of a bat. Because bat handles stick out of kids’ backpacks, it keeps cars from being dinged, heads from being bonked, and windows from being cracked. A ReadyBat bat cover also has a hook on the end and a texturized inside for grip so that it can be hung on a fence, backpack, or in the off-season, can easily be stored at home.”
For Liam, ReadyBat isn’t just about ease but comfort as well. “I don’t have to worry about denting my mom’s car now, so I guess it takes away pre-game stress. I also like to use it to hang my bats up on the fence at the batting cage.”
ReadyBat is a family affair too, meaning not just Tori is involved. “I’m a designer with a background in advertising, so I handle those parts. My husband, Chris, supports the business by doing the more administrative side.”
The family lives in the Kyrene area, with Liam attending school in the Kyrene School District. “We have two cute dogs that we like to walk around our neighborhood. We like our little corner of businesses on Warner and Rural and frequent Ghost Ranch, Postino, and Craftsman often. I’m also a member of One Tribe Yoga,” she says.
When it came to creating ReadyBat, for Hauser, it wasn’t just about creating something for her own son, but something everyone in her community and other communities just like hers could use to better assist in daily training for a very popular sport. Right now, the product can be found at readybat.com. For questions regarding the product, you can email Tori at [email protected].
