On a Tuesday night in the Revelstoke Community and Aquatic Centre's MacPherson Room, it's not the usual heads-down club fit session.

The striking difference that jumps out here, as a dozen athletes groove into an aerobics warm-up, is the smiles, laughter and camaraderie.

"We look like a hockey team," one jokes in admiration as his group poses for a photo.

The team of volunteer instructors then run a revolving circuit of sets, ranging from lunges, squats, shoulder flies, floor touches and ("everyone's favourite") wall sits, before rolling out the yoga mats to ease into a stretch-and-balance routine.

Despite their ages ranging widely from 12 to 50, and their personal knacks for a plethora of sports including skiing, swimming, basketball, bowling, curling and bocce, these diverse-ability trainees thrive in each other's company every week thanks to Bex Reid-Parkin, who sits on Revelstoke's Special Olympics board.

As a mother of gold-winning skier Yorke Parkin, who has thrived as an athlete living with an under-researched genetic disorder called Noonan syndrome and will compete at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin, Italy, this March, Bex has been running these Tuesday club fit sessions for two years to foster a social circle and support network serving the unique needs of other athletes in Revelstoke.

"No matter what skills you have, it brings everyone together," son Yorke said, "meeting new people and opening your horizons with what each person is capable of."

Competing since age seven and performing in slalom, giant slalom and super giant events this March, he aspires to become a ski coach himself one day, with a goal of creating opportunities for wider categories of athletes, regardless of their abilities. In particular, Yorke hopes to launch a Special Olympics free-ski team that can compete alongside existing categories such as free skiing.

"I could ski until I'm like 60," he explained, because at the Special Olympics, "it's not about your age. It's about your ability."

Along with Yorke, 43-year-old Sean Moore will compete in the Special Olympics BC Summer Games in Prince George this July, primarily for swimming in freestyle and butterfly events. Outside these sessions, Moore has spent years training multiple days per week, balancing mile-long morning runs between his part-time workload. He's also good with intermittent weightlifting and balance-building floor hockey.

"That's sort of how I became flexible at all these sports," he said.

While Travis Kehler, 36, specializes in basketball when he's not strumming a guitar or taking the stage as a karaoke singer, he said spending time with these fellow athletes has also gotten him into regular bowling.

Holly Wolfe-Patrick, the youngest of the bunch at 12, previously knew none of the other, older trainees in the community. But joining the Tuesday sessions has helped her develop a social circle that complements her new endeavours in curling.

"This is really good at getting her to spend time with other people," said Wolfe-Patrick's mother Linda, adding she always ensures her daughter's pocket-size rubber chicken comes along for club fit. "We needed something to keep her focused."

Bex, who doesn't call herself an athlete but brings experience as a former physical education teacher and bodybuilder, values all the support for her athlete programming from volunteer instructors and from businesses such as Cantina del Centro and Keystone Health Gym that give the athletes space for other types of activities such as bowling.

"We asked what they enjoy and they said they enjoy these sessions with the guests better," Bex said, noting she's also working to line up increased hours for her group at the pool this summer.

Several helpers are in the room this Tuesday night, and Bex mentioned she has a wider volunteer arsenal of two club fit coaches, two bowling coaches and two or three curling coaches.

Still, relying more heavily on volunteer helpers this year, Bex is always looking for extra sets of hands from community members interested in putting in an hour or two each week. (Anyone interested in coaching golf or bocce would make her day).

To reach out about volunteering, contact revelstoke@specialolympics.bc.ca.