The Innisfail Minor Football Association is putting itself on the map once again. Tomorrow and into the morning of July 12, the association is going head to head with the Town of Cochrane, the only other Albertan group chosen as part of the Kraft Celebration Tour.
The tour is part of an online voting competition that grants $25,000 to 10 winning communities across Canada to go towards improvements to a local recreation facility.
“We were watching TSN,” said bantam coach James Thompson of hearing the news. “And I paused when they started talking about Innisfail — it was just amazing,” he said.
The association turned heads last fall when the underdog peewee team captured the provincial title, making it a historic year for the association. It's gaining attention again having been selected as one of 20 teams from 572 applications for the upcoming competition.
Lindsay Rogers with Kraft Canada said the association's application stood out from the others because it captured the essence of the tour.
“It showed that the town is committed to sports, recreation and active living. It also demonstrated community spirit and small town pride. It really communicated the impact and benefit the $25,000 would have on Innisfail,” she said.
Thompson said the money would go towards upgrades including a new scoreboard because currently they are using a volleyball flip chart.
They also plan to put the money towards equipment and getting the team jerseys.
“Most of it will go towards the training program,” said Thompson, who explained their best piece of equipment is currently a tire pull.
“We're competing against people with better equipment.”
He said the upgrades will go a long way to help the football association but also other local sports teams.
“There are different sports who use our facility,” he said, explaining some lacrosse and hockey players come to their camps just for the training. Thompson is also a basketball coach and gets his players to the camps as well.
“We've had other towns phone us up from other teams to train with us,” he said, using Lacombe as an example. “So if you look at the larger picture this would go towards helping people in different areas around here.”
Voting starts at 10 a.m. July 11 and will run for 24 hours.
“You can vote as many times as you want,” he said. To vote, visit www.kraftcelebratontour.ca.
The winner will also host a community celebration and serve as a backdrop for a live broadcast of SportsCentre.
“We want people to know it's not just for the team. This will have a positive impact for the whole town as a sports community.”
