SCHOOLCHILDREN across the north west have been given the chance to take part in a competition to win a VIP day out at a Sale Sharks rugby match of their choice - and have their radio commercial broadcast on-air.

Moorlands Junior School in Sale is one of 13 schools from the region to compete.

Canterbury, the official kit supplier to England rugby, has been working with UTV media on their U-Create programme; an initiative that engages school children through business and broadcast.

Chris Stephenson, chief executive of Canterbury, says this project fits in perfectly with Canterbury’s commitment to engage the community with rugby. “This is a great initiative, it gets the students involved in various aspects of the sport and encourages them to research and understand it, before they put their creative juices to the test.

"I wish we’d had something like this when I was at school, it makes learning so enjoyable and gives these young people hands-on experience.”

To take part in the competition the pupils were given the task of writing, recording and mixing their own radio commercial. The brief was to create an energetic, exciting commercial that summed up what going to a rugby match is all about. The pupils chose Sale Sharks as their team due to the northwest connection.

So far 13 schools have taken part and their commercials have all been posted on Facebook and Youtube receiving over 2,000 views to date.

The entries will be shortlisted, before a panel of judges from Canterbury and UTV choose the overall winner.

The winning group will win a VIP day out at a Sale Sharks match of their choice, including a meal, tickets for the game, a souvenir and a chance to meet a player. Each team member will also receive a £50 voucher to spend online at www.canterbury.com, as well as having their winning commercial broadcast on Tower FM.

To hear the entries from Moorlands Junior School and all the other entries visit Sale Sharks commercials