The wait to return to sports has been long for athletes, and local Special Olympians are feeling it as well.

All of their activities have been cancelled for months, and Moose Jaw Special Olympics athlete and board member Carl Paulhus is missing the competitions and camaraderie. Paulus said that his coaches have been telling the athletes to make sure to keep active even without competition.

“They’ve been telling us to go get exercise and go for walks and stuff,” said Paulhus who competes in floor hockey, bocce and bowling.

It had been a busy start to the year for Special Olympics in Saskatchewan. In February, the local chapter hosted a major special Olympics floor hockey tournament and just before the pandemic, the provincial team went to nationals in Thunder Bay.

But with COVID-19, everything in the sporting world abruptly stopped. The 2020 Saskatchewan Summer Games that were scheduled for Lloydminster, which had a special Olympics component, were postponed until 2021. A lot of spring group activities for a lot of athletics just can’t happen.

Paulhus talked about what he is looking forward to the most.

“What I’m looking forward to is when we can all get together and play again,” he said. “That will be the happiest day of all.”