Essan founded Bay Area Hockey Repair & Sharpening in San Jose, California in 2011 in the back of his Jeep. He paid $20 for a set of Koho 560 Leg Pads off Craigslist at the former Power Play Hockey parking lot, evoking a forgotten skill set lost in the rat race of life. Grandma “Inang” Victoria taught Essan how to sew at age 8 & help with her small business, teaching him with invaluable work ethic, entrepreneurship and family values at a very young age back in the Philippines where he was born.
Going back to 1993 when Essan’s family moved to Nevada, Missouri. Assimilation was not easy for the teenager navigating a new country in a small farm town. Then one day while browsing through the kitchen television, eating salisbury steak TV Dinner and a can of vienna sausage, Essan witnessed a hockey game and was hooked immediately. Having a 20-foot satellite dish with a technologically savvy stepdad showed a world that Essan became fascinated with. Later that year he saw a Kansas City Blades (former IHL) hockey game where he saw Arturs Irbe in net (before he got called up to San Jose Sharks).
Essan’s family relocated to San Jose, California, Essan wanted to play hockey, but mom forbid it. He rode a bus to Gremic Roller Hockey and spoke with the owner about fixing their rental gear. Mr Van Lewyn gave him a shot. From that moment on, he was acquiring work by word of mouth for cash and rink time, so he could buy his own gear and play. Eventually, he saved up to purchase a brand new Heaton Helite IV Brodeur blocker, instead of a Web TV (which everyone in Silicon Valley was buying) the rest were hand-me downs, Craigslist buys, and trashed gear he repaired to use. Essan’s first job at age 16 was working at Vallco Ice Chalet in Cupertino in the Pro Shop (Current Bellarmine College Preparatory High School Ice Hockey Coach David Guy was the manager then) & later on at Hockey Workout, Inc with a quick stint at Power Play Hockey and Eastridge Ice Arena.
Mom didn’t find out Essan played until she got a phone call from the Santa Clara Valley Hockey Blackhawks club about making the Midget travel hockey team on a scholarship! That senior year of high school playing travel hockey, selected to play in the Santa Clara Valley Hockey Association (SCVHA) All Star team with team MVP honors meant the world to the young man before heading off to college.
Essan attended California College of the Arts in San Francisco while working for Hockey Workout, Inc. He collected many skill set from facilities management, Zamboni maintenance, to retail management. He was the assistant manager when the shop unfortunately closed in 2003. After college, he quit hockey after he sustained his 5th concussion and focused on his sales career. He spent almost a decade in Sales & Insurance business with Karaoke KJ/Wedding DJ on the side.
Fast forward to 2011. Essan made a $20 Craigslist impulse buy. It was a set of Koho Revolution Roy 560 goalpads. It evoked forgotten skills he had accumulated over the years. He repaired the leg pads with his old sewing repair kit grandma kept in storage, and sold it for $150 on eBay.
Essan worked out of his Jeep and grandma’s driveway for the next year, reaching out to his old teammates, coaches and networked within the local hockey community.
He changed the name to Bay Area Hockey Repair & Sharpening as we know it today.
Since 1994, Essan has take apart and repaired over 50,000 pieces of hockey and sports equipment to date while maintaining a 5-star Yelp!, Google+, 100% eBay and Facebook feedback rating.
He has set the standards in the hockey repair business by solving his customers’ equipment problems. Throughout the years, he has perfected repair techniques, helping out hockey parents, amateurs to pro equipment managers, pro shops and pro athletes directly. He’s a master with equipment modification , and developed new products in the hockey industry that stands out with high quality materials, practical money saving innovations, and bridging the gap closer between new equipment and trash.
He has developed a unique business model that has ever existed before: A service based sports shop that goes beyond Skate sharpening & basic repairs. BAHR is a worldwide brand because of support from his local community, mail-in customers seeking out his expertise through online forums, social media worldwide & his peers in the industry. He has a small number of custom made goaltending equipment being used and thousand of products sold throughout the world made by BAHR SPORTS, LLC. Products such as Skate Guards, suspender buttons to goalie replacement & DIY Kits like Goalpad Boot Risers, Goalpad Knee Sliders (Covers) and dozens more.
Essan is active in his community any way he can contribute. BAHR has donated thousands of dollars to causes from donating on Kiva.org, Diabetes Tour de Cure, Movember Foundation, United Heroes League, Red Cross, NCWHL, and countless other organizations. Recently his customers and network donated over 4,000 items to Santa Rosa Fire Victims in 2.5 days back on October 2017 and countless dollars/man hours giving discounted repairs & skate sharpenings to those in need, Essan also makes time to mentor those in need, nurture new talent, and help grow the greatest sport of hockey . Essan is a member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley & Small Business Development Center Silicon Valley.
Essan is working towards maximizing his resources to grow his brand, expand his operations and further innovate products and goaltending equipment. After all, he is at the heart of the Silicon Valley, the land of innovation! His passion for developing products, 1000 repair services that no one can compete with, “made in Silicon Valley” products delivering the best possible quality! Essan founded BAHR SPORTS, LLC January 2017 as a sports manufacturing company making over 200 hockey replacement parts, accessories & apparel, to custom Goal equipment. BAHR SPORTS products retailers include icewarehouse.com , Tydan Performance Blades in Ontario, CANADA, Royal Oak Ice Arena in Stockton, CA, Skateworks LLC near Seattle, WA and more to come in 2018!
Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting BAHR!
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