The new All-Abilities Soccer program being launched by the Weyburn Soccer Association could also mean the start of something more for local Special Olympics athletes.

Special Olympics Weyburn's Community Manager, Lynn Quist said inclusivity has always been a big part of their programming.

"We strive for that with Special Olympics," she said. "We are very excited that Tyler [Hillstead] and the other members of Weyburn Soccer have taken on this initiative for anybody with any disability. It's neat and I know when he came to us we were pretty excited too so I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes."

She said now that their participants can start honing their soccer skills, eventually they could put together a local special olympics weyburn soccer team.

"In Saskatchewan we have a unified basketball program, that kind of thing, so it's kind of nice that Tyler has dived right in here and started something like that for the soccer programs," said Quist. "It's amazing that we've got that other expansion we can start looking at now with Special Olympics."

She said in the United States, Special Olympics is fully unified, in that every sport has a program to help those with cognitive disabilities learn by playing with generic athletes in a two to one ratio.

"[Special Olympics] Regina and Saskatoon have soccer teams," she said. "We don't yet, but if they started now, we could eventually, hopefully get a Special Olympics team going and then we could be part of what they're doing out there."

She explained they've always wanted to start up a soccer program, but their diverse age groups has been prohibitive.

"Ages two to 75, I think is our oldest athlete right now," Quist noted. "So you can't put a two-year-old out there with a 20-year-old, and we have never had enough of the athletes in the proper age group so we could actually get them together to play."

With the opportunity now being afforded by the WSA, the Special Olympics Weyburn athletes not only have the potential to lead to competitive soccer, but they get to play soccer for fun, and for the love of the game.