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Participants and spectators gather for a group photo at the fourth annual Kimmett Cup, Jan. 21 at Mitford Pond in Cochrane.

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Cochrane vies for $25,000 from Kraft Celebration Tour

Cochrane will face off against Innisfail, July 11, in hopes of receiving $25,000 in recreation facility upgrades and hosting a broadcast of TSN’s Sportscentre through the Kraft Celebration Tour.

If successful, the funds will be used to upgrade Mitford Pond, which hosts the annual Kimmett Cup, an outdoor pond hockey tournament in honour of late Cochrane resident Lindsay Kimmett, who was killed in a car crash four years ago at the age of 26.

Upgrades will include the installation of a pergola structure and storage building, electrical hookups, pond lighting and soft portable rink dividers, as well as upgrades of the existing soccer pitch, band stage and ball diamonds.

“What we’ve been missing for years is an electrical hookup, storage building for all the equipment and a changing area for people to put on their skates,” said Kimmett Cup founder Kelly Kimmett, adding the new structures are very important.

“Until now, we’ve had to rent and borrow equipment or make due with what we’ve got,” he said.

“We want to build something on both sides of the pond that will be a permanent structure that people can use year-round. It would make the tournament much easier to set up and allow it to function a lot better.”

Tournament organizers were one of 572 community groups from across the country to apply to the competition, which will award $25,000 to a community in each of the 10 participating provinces from the pool of 20 finalists.

In addition to the cash prize, the winning communities will serve as a backdrop for a live broadcast of Sportscentre, with TSN’s Darren Dutchyshen and Kate Beirness hosting the Western Canada stops, and Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole broadcasting in the Eastern communities.

Voting for each match-up is limited to a 24-hour period and results of each vote will be announced the following day on Sportscentre on TSN and SPORTS 30 on RDS.

Prior to each vote, Sportscentre and Sports 30 will profile both competing communities and look at the proposed community improvement projects.

The specials will air live from Aug. 17 to 26.

To maximize the votes Cochrane receives, Kimmett Cup organizers are encouraging residents to hold parties and ask as many people as they know to cast a vote.

“We’ve done as much as we can, so now it’s up to Cochrane and area to get the vote out,” said Kimmett.

Voting begins at 10 a.m. on July 11, and the number of votes you can cast is unlimited.

For more information, go to www.kraftcelebrationtour.ca, or check out the Kraft Celebration Tour or Kimmett Cup pages on Facebook.