Phoenix mark Children's Day

Sunday March 4 is New Zealand's Children's Day and this year it coincides with the Wellington Phoenix's Week 22 clash with Gold Coast United.

To mark the day, there is a whole afternoon of free kids entertainment planned at Westpac with the stadium opening at an early 1pm so kids can enjoy themselves for a couple of hours pre game.

An afternoon of free activities and a chance to win a family trip to Melbourne to watch the Phoenix v Melbourne Victory on Friday March 16 courtesy of Qantas and the Intercontinental will be coupled with raising awareness of what the day is all about.

Wellington Phoenix Head of Marketing David Dome said the Wellington Phoenix wanted to mark the day in the best possible way.

"A lot of our crowd is made up of families. This gives them the chance to make a whole afternoon on game day. They can come in early, let the kids run wild for a couple of hours and then sit back and watch the game" Dome said.

The Phoenix have also set aside the Family Zone as a special pricing initiative. Dome said they wanted to encourage those families who sometimes can't afford tickets to make a day of it this game.

"We decided that we were putting on all this free entertainment and wanted as many kids as possible to be able to take advantage of it. Sometimes families can't always afford to go to a game - so we've put aside a limited amount of tickets in the Family Zone at half the regular price to make it more affordable."

These tickets are not available on game day at the Stadium and they cannot be purchased anywhere else other than the Family Zone.

Dome said they were not only looking to provide some free kids entertainment on the day but also acknowledge the spirit of the day.

“The theme for this year’s Children’s Day is ‘Treasure our Children’,” says Bernadine Mackenzie, head of Child, Youth and Family, the Government's lead agency for Children’s Day

“Wellington Phoenix are really coming to the party with this, treasuring some of our most vulnerable kids by offering free tickets for around 130 kids in care and their foster families - many of whom would never have attended a professional sports event, or felt the thrill of the game up close before", says Bernadine.

”Giving them new opportunities like this is not only a treat, but important in opening up possibilities for them.”

'It's consistent with our Charity and Community Programmes to be a part of our wonderful local community," Dome said

Gates open at 1pm and the Phoenix v Gold Coast kicks off at 4.30pm.