The Special Olympics Saskatchewan Summer Games are coming to Moose Jaw for the first time in 2017.

The Friendly City was announced as the host site for the 2017 Games on Thursday with the event taking over the city from June 16-18.

“I’m very excited, it’s about time that we get the Games here, it’s going to be good for us and this city,” said local athlete Carl Paulhus after the announcement. This will be Paulhus' seventh time competing in the games.

Over 250 athletes are expected in Moose Jaw for the three-day event, which has typically been held in Regina and Saskatoon. Been able to bring the games to Moose Jaw this time around is an exciting proposition for Special Olympics Saskatchewan.

“We haven’t seen our games in Moose Jaw before and we have some really good volunteers here and the community is really ready to get around them and we’re very excited to have the games here,” said Faye Matt, CEO of Special Olympics Sask.

“We needed a place that has the right facilities, the right readiness of volunteers and community support and Moose Jaw was ripe for that.”

This will be the 41st Special Olympics Saskatchewan Summer Games. The event features seven sport competitions that will be held at facilities including, YaraCentre, Kinsmen Sportsplex, Gutheridge Field, Hillcrest Golf Club, South Hill Bowling Centre and Moose Jaw Soccer Fields.

Athletes qualified for the games through local and regional competitions over the past two years.

Mayor Fraser Tolmie, who also chairs the Special Olympics Moose Jaw board of directors, said that they’ve been lobbying to bring this event to the city for quite some time.

“We’ve been working on this for over a year now and the previous board and this board have been dedicated to bringing this to the local community,” said Tolmie. “This is the first time that it’s coming out of that Regina/Saskatoon corridor, so we’re excited about that.

“The board’s dedicated to getting prepared for this. We’ve got a lot of local buy-in already, lots of people looking to get involved.”

For the athletes, who have travelled to other communities to compete in the events, they will now get the chance to perform in front of family and friends here in Moose Jaw.

“I can only imagine what it’s going to be like around this city for three days,” said Paulhus.

“It’s going to be quite interesting to compete in front of everybody from your hometown, it’s going to be fun and there’s going to be lots of excitement going on around here. I can’t hardly wait for it.”

The sports that the athletes will compete in range from Athletics and Soccer to Bocce and Golf, as well as Softball, Swimming, Basketball, Powerlifting and Rhythmic Gymnastics.

The Games will open on June 16 with the traditional Law Enforcement Torch Run and the Opening Ceremonies. The athletes will be looking qualify for the National Summer Games in Nova Scotia in July, 2018.

“We want to really rally around getting volunteers to be ready for the weekend and we’re also looking for community sponsorship as well. All our programs are low-to-no cost for our athletes and we want to ensure that they have a great experience at the Games,” said Matt.

Click here if you’re interested in volunteering for the Games.