Sport Wellington Stadium Sports Festival aims to inspire

A wide range of New Zealand’s sporting codes will aim to excite and inspire the next generation of Kiwi kids at Wellington’s showcase sporting facility, Westpac Stadium, during the annual Sport Wellington Stadium Sports Festival being held on Wednesday 28th October.

Organised by Sport Wellington for the past twelve years, the Sport Wellington Stadium Sports Festival aims to give school children in years 5 and 6 the opportunity to “have-a-go” at sports they might not generally experience. Six hundred school children will participate in 20 different sports throughout the day, giving them a chance to find sports they enjoy and want to play regularly either through school, KiwiSport programmes or sport clubs.

“The day is a fantastic opportunity for children from different schools to come together to take part in new sports and be active while having lots of fun” says organiser Paddy Simpson, Community Sport Advisor for Sport Wellington. The regional event has become so popular it has spawned satellite sports festivals in Lower Hutt and Wellington City, which has given more local schools greater opportunity to take part.

Traditional codes such as netball, football, cricket and hockey will be showcased alongside more unfamiliar sports such as fencing, bocce, gymsports and ultimate frisbee. During the day the students will also have the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of Wellington’s professional athletes from the Phoenix, Firebirds and Blaze.

Sport Wellington acknowledges Wellington Regional Stadium Trust for providing the prestigious grounds of Westpac Stadium for the day to ‘give back’ to the regional community. “It’s great for these kids to get a taste of what playing in an elite venue is like. We hope many of the students find a sport they love and have an opportunity to continue to enjoy it within their local community” says Simpson.

The Sport Wellington Stadium Sports Festival begins at 10am and finishes at 2pm, with a lunch break between 12.10 and 12.40pm. There is a postponement day of Wednesday 4th November.

ENDS

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