It’s not whether you win or lose, the sportswriter Grantland Rice once famously wrote, but “how you play the game.’’

At Abington High School, they know just what he meant.

Abington was the first school in the South Shore League to start up a program pairing varsity athletes and students with mental, intellectual, physical, or cognitive disabilities.

Called the unified program, it began just four years ago and has taken off in a big way, spreading to three other schools in the league. The special-needs athletes participate in regular weekly practices and play in several games during the fall, winter, and spring seasons.

“Just seeing everyone in their unified team shirts on game days just makes my day,’’ said Matt Galvin, 18, a varsity soccer player who’s now a senior at the school. “I’m always looking forward to seeing [the special athletes] at practices, around the school, or at the actual games, because they’re some of the strongest and most amazing people I’ve met.’’

Galvin concedes he was nervous about the program when it started up in 2013. But now he and fellow seniors and 18-year-olds Ashli Roberts and Jenny Worden all say they’ll miss it terribly when they graduate.

When the program began as an experiment with six nontraditional athletes, school athletic director Peter Serino and associate director Kate Casey, who doubled as the program’s adviser, were hoping to ramp up the numbers.

That wish came true, and rapidly so. There are now about 12 special athletes, while the varsity athletes, whose numbers were first in the teens, have jumped to between 60 and 70 today.

“I couldn’t believe how many athletes came out to support this program,’’ said Serino. “It just shows how strong and connected our school is for everyone in the community.’’

The players practice every Tuesday for an hour, at a time slot that works perfectly for the varsity athletes — between the end of classes and the start of varsity practice. The school made sure the timing wouldn’t make it difficult or impossible for anyone who wanted to participate.

In addition to the practices every week, the unified team also plays two or three games with the arrival of each season on the calendar: In the fall, it’s soccer; in the winter, basketball; and the spring brings kickball.

Worden, who plays basketball and soccer, said the games carry the same atmosphere as typical varsity games. The bleachers are packed with community members, the band and cheerleaders line the sidelines, and the game announcer handles the speakers.

The special athletes, said their varsity teammates, soak all that up and more.

“Those students love the little things with being a part of a varsity sport,’’ Casey said. “They love the pasta parties before the game, or the ice cream runs after the game, or the bus ride to and from the game, or wearing their uniforms on game days during the school day.

“Those are the things that varsity teams don’t really think about because it’s tradition, but to these students it means the world to them.’’

After Abington broke the ice, other South Shore League schools — Rockland, Carver, and Hanover — signed on to the program, a major boost because it means unified teams have more games to play.

For Abington and the other schools, the program is supported by donations from community members, the towns themselves, and the state.

And while the special athletes appear to have taken much enjoyment from participating, some of the varsity athletes say the program has changed their lives.

Roberts, Worden, and Galvin all said they feel it’s brought them lessons they can use in college and beyond. The three say they’ve thought about following career paths into special education solely because of their participation in the program. They all hope to implement similar programs when they arrive in college because they’ve seen the effect such a program can have.

And it won’t be so much the games themselves they’ll miss, said the varsity athletes, but the relationships they’ve made and strengthened with others in the program.

For Roberts, a soccer and softball player, it’s become a second family that she will never forget.

“What I’m going to miss the most from them is the hugs and smiles on their faces no matter what the situation, good or bad,’’ she said.

“I already know that I’ll be coming back to the games next year when I’m in college, because I love this program too much to let it go.’’

Brian Mozey can be reached at brian.mozey@globe.com. His Twitter handle is @BrianMozey.