Local football organizations are hoping to bring an unforgettable experience to Estevan.
Estevan Minor Football and the high school Elecs have teamed up to submit a bid for the Kraft Celebration Tour.
The annual contest, conducted in partnership with TSN, sees 10 winning communities across the country receive $25,000 for local recreation projects.
The winners also host an edition of SportsCentre from their community, part of a 10-day tour across Canada.
"I watch TSN at home and I thought it'd be neat to put Estevan on the map, since we've been able to do so much in three short years, and show a couple of celebrities what we've done," said EMF coach and organizer Wanda Harron, who submitted the Estevan entry.
SportsCentre anchors Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole will be making the western stops, with Darren Dutchyshen and Kate Beirness doing the eastern swing.
The money would be used for projects important to both minor football and the Elecs.
Several refrigerators and possibly water heaters in the EMF concession building are believed to be damaged after recent flooding.
The Elecs need to finish their new locker room and also want to fence their practice facility at the high school as soon as possible.
"We'd really put Estevan football on the map if a national network came and potentially broadcast right from our field," said EMF president Steve McLellan.
"It'd go a long way toward helping us keep football at all levels sustainable in Estevan. It would kind of be a tribute to the volunteers and all their hard work."
Dutchyshen said he treasures his experiences from the past two years on the tour, visiting communities big and small with widely ranging needs.
"It's very communal. These places are awfully proud of their area and they should be. There has not been a single disappointing stop yet," said the TSN veteran.
"We get more out of it than they get. People treat us way better than we should be treated. It's a great time. I'm pretty lucky to get a chance to do it."
Nominations close June 10. Contest judges will select the top 60 entries in the country and then narrow that down to 20, expected to be two from each province, based on quality as well as broadcast logistics.
The top 20 entries will be announced July 1 and placed in pairs for online voting, which runs July 11-22.
The Estevan nomination was posted last Tuesday and had amassed a whopping 92 comments by Monday afternoon, easily the most of the 16 Saskatchewan entries.
Harron said she has been getting the word out via e-mail and Facebook.
"I know all the entries across Canada are worthy, but we've done so much in such little time," she said of football's growth in the city.
Dutchyshen, a Porcupine Plain native, was surprised when informed football had not been relevant in Estevan until three years ago.
"I was shocked that they didn't have (a program). Even in Porcupine we had one, but it was six-man."
Dutchyshen said most of the communities he has visited got money to renovate facilities. He said Estevan is a unique case with a community program recently getting off the ground.
Harron said the city's football programs have helped to bridge the gap amongst teen groups, attracting some unlikely athletes, and she hopes to see a stop on the Celebration Tour inspire more of those youngsters to start playing.
"What we've found is that football in Estevan has been attracting the non-traditional athletes that don't really fit into other sports. You don't necessarily have to be the fastest, tallest or strongest to play football in Estevan," she said.
Dutchyshen said he looks forward to another year of criss-crossing the country, although he won't be visiting Estevan in the event of a win.
"It doesn't matter where you go in Canada, it's absolutely beautiful," he said. "You're working and it's busy, but the people are so nice."
