Plenty of people dream of competing under stadium lights. But for some, those dreams get cut short, and it’s not because of talent.
Athletes with intellectual or developmental disabilities don’t always have the same opportunities to compete as those without disabilities.
One notable exception is La Liga Genuine, a Spanish soccer league. La Liga clubs like Barcelona FC and Real Madrid also have teams for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Those players get to play at maximum capacity to make their city and their fans proud.
Current Spokane Velocity player Nil Vinyals is a Barcelona native who has been playing soccer in the US for the past decade.
When he was captain of the Richmond Kickers, he got involved with RVAccess, the club’s program for kids with special needs.
His experience there got him thinking about American athletes with little access to competitive soccer. After studying La Liga Genuine more intentionally, Vinyals came back to the US with a plan: create the country’s first all-gender, yearlong soccer league for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Now, it’s a reality. Alongside co-founder João Gomiero, Vinyals helped found Project Inspire in 2024. Finally, the Inspire Soccer League kicks off this fall.
Spokane Impact is one of the four founding Inspire Soccer League teams. Its new head coach Mike Pellicio has years of experience coaching for youth clubs and also teaches special education at Shadle Park High School.
SPR's Eliza Billingham talked with Vinyals and Pellicio about why this league is so important and what it will mean for the city. Stick around to the end to listen in on Impact’s (very windy) first tryout session — and meet some of Impact’s newly signed players.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
EB: Nil, you've always been really clear that Project Inspire is not a rec league. Why is that an important distinction?
NV: Yeah, so I think that's a great question, and really the question that differentiates our program. It really comes back to a simple question that was asked by an athlete, Ryan, in RVAccess back in Richmond, that started the whole process and that's why we're here today. And it was, “When can I play for the Richmond Kickers with you guys?” Right?
Through that question, if you think about it in a deeper level, what he's telling us is, “I do not have the opportunity to play for the Richmond Kickers, and you do. The only difference is that I have intellectual disabilities and you don't. And I don't have the opportunity to represent my city or my club at the big stage, in front of fans, in front of my community, and within that athlete experience,” that I am lucky enough to experience every Saturday or Sunday.
So that's why it's so important that we treat athletes as athletes and not participants. And that's why we're putting so many efforts to make sure that the athlete experience is at the center of what we're trying to do -- with professional standards for the event, and providing different support like nutritional plans, a fitness app, and making sure that winning and losing is not the most important thing, but having the option to compete and to win or lose, it is.
EB: I'm not someone who has always had a healthy relationship with competition. So it's hard for me to automatically get on board that competition is inherently a good thing. Mike, can you talk about how you’ve seen competition make this community healthier?
MP: I know exactly what you mean by competition not being the healthiest thing at times. Certainly, the win-at-all-costs mentality is mortifying, especially when coaches don't really describe their process to winning, they just expect it.
And then, young people today want things immediately because they're on their phones all day and they can get it. So, I think that working toward a common goal with others is phenomenal for people -- not just for athletes, but for people in general.
I think that delayed gratification is a wonderful thing. So, we worked for six weeks and finally got this reward. And I think that you learn a lot from trying to pull in the same direction with another group of people -- whether you win or lose. And I think that I've probably learned more from losing than winning in my life. Our athletes deserve that exact same opportunity.
NV: I think that's a great explanation. And beyond everything that Mike just explained, in a very graceful way, there's so much data that supports how sports competition improves well-being -- from a physical standpoint, from a mental standpoint, from a social standpoint -- in this in this community.
So again, it comes back to, Why do athletes without intellectual disabilities get to compete and why don’t athletes with intellectual disabilities have the chance? And of course, there's going to be many athletes with and without intellectual disabilities that don't want to compete. And that's completely fine. But for the ones that want to compete, that's what we really want to provide for them.
EB: Okay, so the first fixture is in Colorado Springs. The second is here in Spokane in September. What is a fixture? How will that work? What should people expect when they go watch?
NV: Yeah, so the first fixture -- the first ever fixture -- is going to be Colorado Springs at the Switchback Stadium from August 22nd to 24th.
How the fixture works is, all the teams travel to one location. They will get there on a Friday afternoon. They will play two games on a Saturday, one game on a Sunday. So, fans will have the chance to experience, of course, both Saturday, the whole day until 2 or 3 p.m. with multiple games going at the same time and then Sunday morning, too.
It's going to be a great event with amazing energy. And then the most important thing is, of course, people can really understand the value of what the athletes are doing and really treat them as athletes, right? Not a recreational event, not a social or charitable event, but rather as athletes that are competing to represent their city.
So, I welcome everyone to, of course, attend the Spokane event, which is going to be September 12th to the 14th. We’re super, super excited that Spokane is going to be able to host the second regular season fixture.
EB: If I’m understanding correctly, everything is paid for for the athletes. Where does that funding come from?
NV: Of course, the main priority was that this was going to be free athlete participation -- so that includes the accommodation, the transportation, the meals and the uniforms are going to be paid for these athletes.
We were lucky enough to be able to obtain the Innovate to Grow grant, awarded by the US Soccer Federation for the first year. But of course, we need funding from other sources. So, we have Capelli Sport as our main apparel sponsor that is providing all the equipment for the events and the merchandising line. But we really -- call to action to the whole community to support us, because we really need the support for these athletes.
EB: Project Inspire is partnering with the University of Pennsylvania to study perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities. Mike, do you have an idea of how people typically form perceptions of this community, and how those perceptions can be misinformed?
MP: That's a really good question. I don't think a lot of people know. I think a lot of people never have the opportunity to engage.
And I don't think it's their fault. I think for a long time, even when I grew up in school, all of our students with intellectual and developmental disabilities were off in the corner of the school. Like, I rarely saw them.
So, I think this generation is really changing that in that our kids are right at the front of everything.
One of our students at Shadle Park is probably the top 10 most recognizable and well-known students in the school. Every time he walks through the halls, it's high fives and handshakes and hugs sometimes.
I think that breaking down those walls is the most important thing, because I think that the fear of the unknown might lead to some perceptions that are not accurate or maybe just not fully informed.
And you can make your own decisions once you spend some time with our athletes. But I would love for you to be at the game, cheering them on. And then, Nil and I both have the exact same story of when you spend some time with some people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, you want to do it more.
And, you know, that's that first interaction sometimes that people are lacking. So, I don't know exactly where all the impressions come from. I don't know whether they're good, bad or indifferent. But I know that now we are seeing these students thrive in school environments in this generation. And I think that can only be a good thing for everyone.
EB: Nil, can you talk a little bit about what you saw when you were studying La Liga Genuine in Spain?
NV: I think the most important thing that I brought here to the US is this is a proven model. This can be done. The athletes are going to be there.
There's a thousand athletes right now, over a thousand athletes in La Liga Genuine in Spain. Spain has a population of 50 million people. Imagine with a population of over 350 million people, the amount of athletes that we can really get together in the whole United States.
EB: I've heard Nil say previously that he’s surprised something like this doesn’t already exist in the States. Mike, do you think there’s a reason it's taken so long to get this off the ground?
MP: I think it probably hasn't happened yet in this country because we have so many different sports dividing our attention. In Spain, I mean there's there is certainly other sports but soccer is the undisputed king. That would be my guess because we are fairly advanced in terms of our social services in this country. So that'd be my best guess.
EB: Do you think soccer specifically is well designed to serve this population?
MP: I do. Because the game can be played with so little. You really need a sphere and from there you're pretty good.
EB: One more question for you, Mike. What will it take to make you feel like Spokane Impact is successful?
MP: I think I already feel that it's been successful. Because I just saw 17 athletes come out and have the time of their lives. So if we lose every game it won't really bother me.
That said, once I see these athletes and the looks on their faces when we're entering the stadium at Colorado Switchbacks -- once that we have you know people with drums cheering their names here in Spokane in September -- I don't know that I'm going to be able to keep it together.
But that will be that will be just additional things to add to our palette of success.
EB: Nil, same question.
NV: I don't think I can provide a better answer than Mike has already. But I think, just at the personal level, it's been such a long time of putting together this project, of convincing so many people that this was a reality, that we need to have this league, that athletes were going to be there, that the coaches were going to be there, that the support was going to be there.
When I got out and supported the practice that Mike ran and saw that 17 athletes were there competing, enjoying, smiling, learning, and sharing an hour together around soccer, it was difficult to not have goosebumps and really get emotional as I'm getting right now.
So, I think for me as Mike said, success is already putting the athletes on the field. When that first athlete steps on the field in Colorado, I know it's going to be the start of a very unique journey that will touch a lot of lives around the U.S. and beyond.
Besides that, if they win, I'm going to be biased and supported Impact a little more…hope the other teams don't listen to this. [Laughs]
But no, I think success has already been achieved. And I think the success will be if this can be sustainable -- and that's why we need the support of everyone that is listening to us.
SPR went to Spokane Impact's first tryout session at HUB Sports Center in mid July and got to chat with some of the athletes getting ready to play.
EB: Can you tell me your name?
Ethan Peroff: Ethan.
EB: How old are you, Ethan?
EP: Sixteen.
EB: How long have you been playing soccer?
EP: For one year. I played for the Ferris Saxons, for the Unified Soccer team at Ferris. I just like to have fun with my team. Play good. Play hard. Get back on D. When we go find a school, we play 'em. And my team's like, 'We're ready to go. We're ready to play.'
EB: Would you tell me your name?
Anna McCoy: Anna.
EB: How old are you, Anna?
AM: Twenty-eight.
EB: What's your last name?
AM: McCoy.
EB: And how long have you been playing soccer?
AM: For my whole life.
EB: What do you like about playing soccer?
AM: Getting goals.
EB: How many goals do you think you've gotten over your career for so far?
AM: A lot.
EB: Is there anything that you're especially excited for today?
AM: Getting goals.
