Spokane Impact is Eastern Washington’s newest soccer team.
It’s part of the Inspire Soccer League, or ISL — the nation’s first year-long, all gender, highly competitive soccer league for athletes with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Spokane is one of the founding cities, alongside Knoxville, Houston, and Colorado Springs, that announced new ISL teams on July 1. The new Knoxville and Colorado Springs ISL teams are associated with those cities' United Soccer League, or USL, teams.
The ISL was founded by Spokane Velocity player and Barcelona native Nil Vinyals, alongside his previous teammate João Gomiero.
It’s modeled in part after LaLiga Genuine, a league that partners with Spain’s top football clubs — think Real Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia — to create teams for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
People with developmental disabilities often suffer from social isolation, lack of exercise, and depression, Vinyals said. Sports, especially social sports like soccer, can help dramatically.
But ISL is more than a rec league. High standards for play, with guidance from the Special Olympics, ensure that athletes can compete at maximum effort.
But Vinyals says Inspire Soccer League raises the level even higher.
“[We’re] providing nutritional plans and a fitness app for the athletes,” he said. “The whole idea is that the athletes can represent their city at the biggest stage possible — professional stadiums. And the events are only for them.”
A year-long league means there won’t be gaps in training. Plus, athletes will compete across the country at no cost to themselves in pro settings with all the accompanying perks — including dedicated fans.
Katie Harnetiaux, president of USL Spokane, says this new team perfectly aligns with the club’s vision for soccer in the city.
“[Nil] sat down with Ryan [Harnetiaux] and I to explain what Project Inspire was, and he had us within 10 minutes,” she said. “This absolutely fed into our mission of building out community and making sure that soccer really was for everyone … I’m excited for the community to come and cheer these athletes on in the same way that they cheer on Velocity and Zephyr.”
The ISL is licensed by the United States Soccer Federation. The league plans to partner with the University of Pennsylvania’s Masters of Behavioral and Decision Sciences program to research how perceptions of athletes with intellectual disabilities are formed and how they can be changed.
Tryouts for the Spokane Impact will take place in the middle of July. The team’s minimum roster will be 15 players. Athletes must be at least 16 years old. More information about how to register for tryouts will be posted by USL Spokane soon.
The first ISL games are set for August 22-24 in Colorado Springs. The second fixture will be in Spokane from September 12-14. Find out more at Project Inspire’s website.
