Covy Moore/Rocky View Publishing

George McDougall fans celebrate at a local cross town rivalry volleyball game Oct. 24 at Bert Church High School.

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Airdrie high schools competing for $140,000 for equipment, uniforms

They’re rivals on the volleyball and basketball courts and on the soccer and football fields. Now, Airdrie’s George McDougall and Bert Church High Schools are facing off in a very different competition.

Both schools are competing in the Finding Undeniable challenge, an Under Armour contest, for a $140,000 prize, which would go towards purchasing new equipment and uniforms for its respective sports teams.

“We entered the Finding Undeniable challenge because we thought it would be a great way to increase our school spirit,” said Carol Smith, head coach of the Bert Church senior boys volleyball team.

The contest began at the beginning of October and each participating school, which includes several across North America, are required to complete different challenges and upload pictures and videos to the contest’s website. The challenges include a photo of the school’s trophy case and the City of Airdrie sign, a cheer choreographed by the school and a video of the student body chanting, “we will protect this house,” a play on the Under Armour motto.

The completed challenges earn the schools points and extra points can be attained by each vote the school receives. At the end of November, the top four schools will be announced, as well as four wild-card winners. The wild-card winners are chosen based on challenges that are created by the students and submitted into the contest.

Liese Reichert, the cheer coach at George McDougall, spearheaded the school’s campaign, but found out that the cheer team wouldn’t receive any of the prize money if the school wins. Regardless, she forged ahead with the contest, hoping the school would win and the Mustang soccer, football, volleyball and basketball teams would be on the receiving end of some much needed funding.

Reichert said the contest isn’t just a way to show the school’s spirit, but also the creativity of the students.

“It’s been fun,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for a school to show its sense of community and creativity outside of what teachers see in the classroom. Many don’t get a chance to see how truly creative and vibrant high school students are. That’s what we really appreciate about the competition. We get to see the students in a positive light and how proud they are of their school and each other.”

Both Bert Church and George McDougall have completed a number of the challenges and are actively campaigning within the school and the community in an effort to get more votes. To vote for either school, visit www.findingundeniable.ca and click on ‘find my school.’