There hasn't been much reason for a rivalry between Estevan and Swan River, Man., over the years.
That ends right now.
Friday's Kraft Celebration Tour announcement included both communities in the final 20 and they will go nose-to-nose in an inter-provincial battle.
The winner gets $25,000 for a recreation project and hosts a broadcast of SportsCentre, with Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole, in late August.
Estevan's case is well known. The high school Elecs need to finish their new locker room and fence their practice field, while minor football needs to complete a parking lot for their practice facility along with other projects.
All of that was compounded by massive flooding in recent months, which has almost certainly inflicted costly damage at the main field at Woodlawn, along with the concession area there.
It's believed several refrigerators and possibly water heaters were damaged.
Minor football past-president Brian Senchuk said the costs of the existing projects are pegged at about $45,000.
That doesn't include any damage from the flooding.
Of that, $35,000 is for the Elecs' locker room, which still needs its showers, toilets and sinks completed, along with a cement pad at the entrance and a fence around the field.
"I imagine everyone that's a finalist has a really good case for needing the money," said EMF president Steve McLellan, "and we're no different with the progress we still have left to make with minor football and the high school, along with the harsh spring we've had.
"We'd be lucky to get away unscathed (from flooding damage) at this point. Plus, it's football in Saskatchewan, it's a good matchup," he added.
Swan River, meanwhile, is planning a new recreation complex that would include an indoor pool and a walking track.
Derek Holtom, who submitted their entry and is also the editor of the Swan Valley Star & Times, said it's a project that the town itself could never afford, but the surrounding municipalities are chipping in.
"It's been years in the making, really," he said. "We've never had an indoor pool here."
There are seven municipalities in the Swan Valley area, and two of the major RMs are on board with matching agreements with government.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $12.5 million. The area has raised $7.2 million so far.
Another $3 million is expected to come in the form of pledges and government grants, which puts the remaining fundraising target at $2.3 million.
"They could go ahead and build this pool tomorrow, but they want to bring it over the top for Phase 2," Holtom said.
The zero-entry pool is the first phase, with the second being the running track with a large area in the middle for indoor football or other events.
"It has been described as unprecedented support from the three levels of government," said Holtom.
Swan River is a town of about 4,000 people, with one of its biggest sporting attractions being the Swan Valley Stampeders of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Their online entry received 24 supporting comments, compared with a whopping 287 for Estevan.
"It's going to be really, really fun for the next little while because it'll be a competition between two cities and I think we're ready to battle," said Elecs head coach Marco Ricci.
"We'll make sure we get everybody involved. We should get the support of most of the province in the sense that they know a little bit of what's going on down here (with flooding)."
