42 MIHL Showcase Games to Stream Live
February 4, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
The NFHS Network has completed arrangements with LiveBarn for the live video streaming of the 20th Annual MIHL Prep Hockey Showcase this Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 6-8) at Kennedy Recreation Center in Trenton.
All 42 games over the three-day event will be available on a subscription basis on MHSAA.tv and LiveBarn. To get directly to the games on MHSAA.tv – Click Here. Here’s the complete schedule:
Thursday - Feb. 6
5:20 p.m. Warren De La Salle Collegiate vs. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett
5:40 p.m. Grosse Pointe North vs. Allen Park Cabrini
6 p.m. Lake Orion vs. Plymouth
7:20 p.m. Port Huron Northern vs. Rochester United
7:40 p.m. Ann Arbor Skyline vs. Novi
8 p.m. Riverview Gabriel Richard vs. Howell
Friday - Feb. 7
9:30 a.m. Grosse Pointe South vs. Salem
9:50 a.m. Grandville vs. Detroit County Day
10:10 a.m. Hancock vs. Utica Eisenhower
11:30 a.m. Orchard Lake St. Mary's vs. Traverse City Central
11:50 a.m. Brighton vs. Grand Rapids Catholic Central
12:10 p.m. Flint Powers vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
1:30 p.m. Calumet vs. Livonia Stevenson
1:50 p.m. Plymouth vs. Byron Center
2:10 p.m. East Grand Rapids vs Ann Arbor Skyline
4 p.m. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood vs. Hartland
4:40 p.m. Allen Park Cabrini vs Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern
4:20 p.m. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice vs. Saginaw Heritage
6 p.m. Detroit Catholic Central vs. Green Bay Notre Dame Academy
6:20 p.m. Detroit U-D Jesuit vs. Midland Dow
6:40 p.m. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett vs. Big Rapids
8 p.m. Trenton vs. Cleveland St. Ignatius
8:20 p.m. Houghton vs. Riverview Gabriel Richard
8:40 p.m. Port Huron Northern vs. Grand Rapids Christian
Saturday - Feb. 8
8 a.m. Detroit Country Day vs. Midland Dow
8:20 a.m. Howell vs. Grand Rapids Catholic Central
8:40 a.m. Warren De La Salle Collegiate vs. Hancock
10 a.m. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice vs. Green Bay Notre Dame Academy
10:20 a.m. Grosse Pointe South vs. Grandville
10:40 a.m. Big Rapids vs East Grand Rapids
Noon Trenton vs. Calumet
12:20 p.m. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood vs. Houghton
12:40 p.m. Traverse City Central vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern
2:30 p.m. Livonia Stevenson vs. Saginaw Heritage
2:50 p.m. Orchard Lake St. Mary's vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
3:10 p.m. Byron Center vs. Flint Powers
4:30 p.m. Detroit Catholic Central vs. Hartland
4:50 p.m. Cleveland St. Ignatius vs. Brighton
5:10 p.m. Grand Rapids Christian vs. Utica Eisenhower
6:30 p.m. Detroit U-D Jesuit vs. Salem
6:50 p.m. Novi vs. Lake Orion
7:10 p.m. Grosse Pointe North vs. Rochester United
The Showcase is part of a week of nearly 600 live events on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network. You can Click Here to look at the latest list of all upcoming varsity games.
Now in its 11th year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. Pixellot – The NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution – is used by schools wishing to live stream games but lacking the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 a month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on-demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.
Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
December 7, 2021
Four levels above them, in the press box, a group of prospective broadcasters were touring the facilities. The high school students had spent the Fall sports season streaming games to the NFHS Network and now were learning about a career in broadcasting from Eric Vandefifer, a Montrose High grad currently serving as the radio voice of Saginaw Valley State University basketball and as a contributor to a variety of high school broadcast channels including the MHSAA Network.
Seven years ago, Vandefifer was in a similar situation. He was part of a field trip to Ford Field for the Finals that helped him realize sports broadcasting was a career he wanted to pursue. Those field trips were headed by Tom Skinner and Thom Lengyel, who became mentors to Vandefifer. As a high school junior in 2017, Vandefifer was named Best Student Broadcaster nationally by the NFHS Network.
“With Tom Skinner now deceased and Thom Lengyel retired from the broadcast business, I just felt like I had to continue this and their legacy,” Vandefifer said. “It was important to me to keep it going because when I was in school, it was something I looked forward to.”
Nearly 50 students from Lowell, Montrose, Lake Orion, Mount Pleasant and Ann Arbor Greenhills high schools made the Nov. 26-27 trip to Ford Field. They were able to film highlights, interview players, practice announcing the games, meet other members of the press and more. For Vandefifer, giving back to students who are in the position he once was is very rewarding.
“We had the ability to feel like real media members for a day. I wanted to be able to give other students that same opportunity,” Vandefifer said. “Seeing kids who have a love for sportscasting and that drive to get better gives me real hope for the next generation in this business.”
And after the field trips were done each day, Vandefifer put his headphones on, got behind the microphone and called the two afternoon games for the MHSAA Championship Network.
PHOTOS (Top) Eighth grader Sam Belill, left, and freshman Owen Leitelt from Montrose practice calling a game from the Ford Field press box. (Middle) Mount Pleasant make a stop at the press conference room. (Photos provided by the Montrose and Mount Pleasant School Broadcast Programs.)