With the help of EB Games and numerous A-League football clubs, Livewire In-Hospital recently hosted a series of launch nights for FIFA 14; the most recent release in the incredibly popular soccer video game franchise.

The launch events were held in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle, with the participation of players from Perth Glory, Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Newcastle Jets.

Patients in the hospitals were given the opportunity to play FIFA 14 on the day of its release, meeting some of their favourite A-League players, and going head-to-head with them on the game. As it turns out – some of the professionals really met their matches in the video games, with the kids coming out on top on numerous occasions!

EB Games provided Livewire with copies of the game, as well as vouchers for prizes. Sydney FC was kind enough to donate some awesome seats to their games for the patients, and all of the clubs bought some sweet swag along to the events.

All of the players involved had a great time experiencing the Livewire program too – beyond playing FIFA, players were given the chance to hit the wards (one patient at Sydney Children’s Hospital decked out his room with a plethora of Sydney FC merch – the guys were impressed), do some origami, play some drums, and participate in some of Livewire and Starlight’s favourite pastimes old (Uno Championships) and new (the Head’s Up app is proving immensely popular recently).

This series of FIFA 14 launch events was an incredible success for the Livewire program, the clubs involved, EB Games, and most importantly, the patients admitted to hospital nationally. Livewire has plenty more planned for the coming months – hopefully, we can work with clubs again prior to the release of FIFA 15.

Livewire is showcasing some of the stuff that we do on Instagram – so check us out there by following @starlight_livewire.

Livewire In-Hospital is one of Starlight’s adolescent programs, which is proudly supported by nib Foundation. Livewire In-Hospital aims to bring fresh and exciting workshops to the wards, and empowers hospitalised teenagers to be social and have fun during their admission.