When you add it all up $25,000 might not seem like a lot of coin but for some young athletes in the town of Innisfail it means plenty and they need your help in being able to cash the cheque.

Innisfail is going head to head with Cochrane in the annual Kraft celebration tour where a community gets 25 grand to spend on a sports-related concern.

James Thompson is the former vice president of Innisfail Minor Football and he helped submit the application because the feeling was the town seems to do well at so many levels in different sports, a $25,000 boost like this could do wonders for all concerned.

“The teams seem to be able to do a lot more with a lot less than other towns,” explained the current Bantam football team coach.

The plan is to use the cash as seed money to develop a training facility which could be used by minor sports teams in the town and surrounding area.

“The $25,000 may go into our account (minor football) but trust me, this is going to go towards something that builds the entire community,” said Thompson.

He used the peewee football team as an example of the excellence developed within the town even with some very basic equipment.

The Cyclones won the provincial title, posting an undefeated season and Thompson says all that they have for helping the kids gets donated but still there is more which could be done.

“For instance, we have a rope and we tie one end to a tire and the other end to the waist of a kid and he’s just kind of pulling that around,” Thompson explained, using a drill designed to increase leg strength to underline the need for a more high-tech training facility to be used by all minor sports teams in town.

The success in the sports world has also reaped some benefits in the classroom as well, according to Thompson.

He says one teacher in town said you could easily see the leaders in the classroom were generally the same ones who were leaders in their sports.

The voting process for the Alberta winner begins July 11 and you can vote online at http://www.kraftcelebrationtour.ca/ until Thursday morning at 10 a.m.

Thompson is encouraging people to have voting parties, order in some pizza and vote as much as you possibly can to beat Cochrane.

“We have 24 hours to accomplish something that is going to push us to the next level.”

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