LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — A new nationwide professional-level soccer team created specifically for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is coming to the Inland Northwest.

Spokane Impact will compete in ‘Project Inspire’ as one of four inaugural cities in the new league built in partnership with the U.S. Soccer Federation, founded by Spokane Velocity FC midfielder Nil Vinyals.

Tryouts for Spokane Impact began on July 15 and 17 at The HUB Sports Complex and was headed by head coach Mike Pellicio, a Spokane native with experience in both soccer and special education, currently teaching at Shadle Park High School.

Pellicio leads Shadle Park’s Ability Based Learning and Education (ABLE) Program while also coaching with Spokane Shadow, a youth soccer club in Spokane.

“The athlete deserves it so when Nil (Vinyals) brought this up to me and I chatted with USL Spokane, I was like man these athletes deserve that type of opportunity,” Pellicio said. “The athletes have a joy and enthusiasm that we don’t see often enough in athletics so that has been just phenomenal.”

On both tryout days Spokane Impact coaches trained around 20 athletes mixed with all sorts of different soccer experiences.

“I used to play soccer a couple of years ago and I thought it would be nice to come back and build my skills up again,” Mead High School graduate Levi Tucker said.

“I played a lot of sports, I did some practice with my sister in the field at home with my brother, I was one of the fastest,” Ridgeline High School’s Raquel Kohler said.

Some of the athletes trying out were from local high schools and had played unified sports growing up.

“I like to play on a team, a team with awesome coaches, that’s what I really like about just finding a team to play with, and I found this team right here,” Ferris High School’s Ethan Peroff said.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and One Knoxville SC will be putting up teams in the Project Inspire league along with United Genuine FC in Houston, Texas.

Pellicio said they can take a maximum of 13 players on each trip, but it’s an opportunity he can’t wait for his team to experience together.

“It’s just to encourage other people, people like me or that have a disability, we can learn how to travel or showing some encouragement to other players around the United States of America,” Central Valley High School graduate Scott Howard said.

Soccer events for Project Inspire will take place on the following dates:

August 22-24, 2025Switchbacks Stadium in Colorado Springs, ColoradoSeptember 12-14, 2025
HUB Sports Complex in Liberty Lake, WashingtonOctober 10-12, 2025One Knox Stadium in Knoxville, TennesseeNovember 21-23, 2025Venue TBD in Houston, Texas

According to USL Spokane, the Inspire League will be ran under a single mixed-gender category with the following three conditions for players:

Players must provide documentation showing Intellectual Disability or Down Syndrome Players must have turned sixteen (16) years old on or before the date the call is issued for the phase in which they are to participate. Players must possess a minimum soccer skill score of 3 in Special Olympics Rating form or equivalent.

Despite the scheduled tryouts being over, Pellicio wants to make sure people know that Spokane Impact still has availability to join the team.

For further details, reach out to mpellicio@gmail.com, you can also find their team registration sign up by clicking here.