Soccer apparel store opens at Riverside Village Shoppes

Owner Jace Kepich is heavily involved with the Mon Valley soccer community.

By MATT PETRAS
For the MVI

The Riverside Village Shoppes along the Monongahela River in Lower Speers recently added a new shop run by local soccer coach and enthusiast Jace Kepich. Called The Beautiful Game, it offers soccer jerseys and other apparel.

The shop can be found at the second door to the right through the main entrance of the 127 Speers St. shopping complex. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

Kepich plans a grand opening soon to make more of a splash in the community.

A Charleroi Area High School graduate and a former soccer player for University of Pittsburgh Greensburg, Kepich also operates youth soccer club Mon Valley United and works as an assistant coach for Ringgold High School. Opening the shop serves as a way for him to expand the role of soccer in his professional life.

“I fell in love with playing the sport,” Kepich said. “I kind of went through what I think a lot of athletes say they go through when the playing days end. You miss being around the game and being in that routine.

“So, immediately sent me to coaching, which … led me down the path of wanting to do this fulltime. I want soccer to be my career.”

Retro jerseys are the shop’s main offering, but it also sells modern jerseys and soccer-themed clothing that Kepich said can be worn as streetwear.

“Which kind of makes us different from other sports apparel places,” Kepich said. “A kid could wear this to school, whereas some places, you kind of have to wear this at a game. I do think we range. We’re pretty versatile.”

Kepich referenced nearby restaurants in addition to the other businesses at Riverside Village Shoppes in explaining why he likes the surrounding area.

“The area I think has a ton of potential,” he said.

Some of the young Mon Valley soccer players Kepich has connected with over the years have visited his shop. Kepich likes giving those kids the opportunity to shop there in part because he knows he would have enjoyed it as a kid.

“The closest soccer store I had growing up, where I had to get gear and clothes and stuff, I was going to Squirrel Hill, so that’s a pretty big distance for me,” Kepich said. “So this is something nice where the Valley kids can come in.”