With school, youth and adult league soccer all the rage throughout Northern Nevada, Carson City has become a destination for regional and state tournaments.
To meet demands of local players and traveling soccer teams, a new retail store, Soccer 4 You, has opened with soccer fanatics in mind. The store will celebrate its grand opening Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6 at 1976 East William Street. It is located in the same complex as Panda Kitchen and Carson City Florist.
Its owners are Norma Porter and Les Reddick of Carson City. The retail store offers top-of-the-line soccer equipment, cleats, shin guards, soccer balls and jerseys at competitive, affordable prices. Many of the jerseys it carries are the same ones used among World Cup teams, said Reddick.
"The soccer population has grown in Carson City and the demand here for a store to sell merchandise and apparel centered around the game was needed," said Reddick.
The couple are longtime soccer fans and players involved with local clubs for years so when they developed the concept for the store, they knew there would be a market for the kinds of merchandise in demand.
The cleats they have in stock are the top of line Nike, Adidas and some Pumas. Soccer 4 You also carries referee equipment, goalkeeper equipment and many other kinds of soccer apparel.
"Our motto is if we don't have it, we'll get it," said Reddick.
The 1,100-square-foot store also has an xBox game entertainment center decked with two pod stations and four very comfortable lounge seats for kids, teens and adults.
On Saturday at 2 p.m. there will be a FIFA xBox tournament with the winner to received an Argentina soccer jersey. There will also be refreshments and games to celebrate the grand opening.
In the front of the store is a flatscreen television dialed into the latest soccer matches from around the world. The store also has a projector screen and seating for coaches and teams to analyze videos of their games. The idea is to have a place where soccer enthusiasts can buy equipment, watch live matches including the World Cup this summer, and play soccer-style xBox game tournaments.
Store hours are Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. For information call (775) 219-4185.