On a bright and sunny day in the capital, over 1300 students from 13 local Primary Schools filtered into Westpac Stadium for the first annual AFL KiwiKick Stadium Festival Day.
The students were able to experience a visit to Westpac Stadium for the first time to watch a game of international AFL Football as the New Zealand Hawks, New Zealand’s premier men’s side, took on the AFL Academy, the best young players in Australia and future AFL superstars.
Read more: AFL Academy too strong for NZ Hawks
In what was the biggest crowd the NZ Hawks have ever played in front of in NZ, it was also the noisiest. “The noise out on the field was amazing, we want them to be at all of our games.” NZ Hawks tall forward Justin Clark was blown away by the support.
Prior to the Festival day, each school received a scavenger hunt challenge where the students had to answer AFL related questions and take part in different AFL activities to win a bunch of prizes supplied by AFLNZ. The activities were situated around the stadium and the students could take part throughout the day.
One of the main highlights of the festival day was the NZ Hawks signing table where the team were signing autographs for all their new found fans. “All the students from our school were very excited about getting the signatures of all the players” Erin Chamley, Fraser Crescent School.
To end the day, each student received a 4 free ticket pass to the ANZAC Day game between St Kilda and Carlton the following day along with other prizes.
The AFL KiwiKick Stadium Festival Day would not have been possible without the support of Pelorus Trust, Westpac Stadium and TranzMetro.
Thanks to all the Schools and teachers involved:
Newtown School, Clyde Quay School, St Anne’s School, Fergusson Intermediate, Kelson School, Plateau School St Joseph’s Upper Hutt, Paremata Primary, Ngaio School, Maoribank School, Johnsonville School, Fraser Crescent School, Upper Hutt Primary.
