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.)
Another Championship Week on MHSAA.tv Begins with Volleyball Quarterfinals
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
November 16, 2021
All 16 Volleyball Quarterfinals scheduled for Tuesday (Nov. 16) will be broadcast on MHSAA.tv to kick off a busy week of Michigan High School Athletic Association tournament events also including Semifinals and Finals in volleyball, Finals in Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving and 8-player football, and Semifinals in 11-player football.
The winners of Volleyball Quarterfinal matches will advance to this weekend’s Semifinals and Finals at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. Division 1 and 4 Semifinals will be played Thursday (Nov. 18), Division 2 and 3 Semifinals on Friday (Nov. 19) and all four Finals will be played Saturday (Nov. 20).
Visit the Volleyball page of the MHSAA Website (https://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/Girls-Volleyball/2021-Finals) for full details, and see below for the Quarterfinal schedule with links to broadcasts:
Division 1
► Davison vs. Bloomfield Hills Marian – 7 p.m.
► Rockford vs. Hudsonville – 7 p.m.
► Ann Arbor Skyline vs. Northville – 7 p.m.
► Dearborn Divine Child vs. Macomb Dakota – 7 p.m.
Division 2
► Cadillac vs. North Branch – 7 p.m.
► Lake Odessa Lakewood vs. Onsted – 7 p.m.
► Grand Rapids Christian vs. Niles – 7:30 p.m.
► Detroit Country Day vs. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep – 5 p.m.
Division 3
► Muskegon Western Michigan Christian vs. Watervliet – 7 p.m.
► Royal Oak Shrine Catholic vs. Reese – 6 p.m.
► Calumet vs. McBain – 6 p.m.
► Pewamo-Westphalia vs. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central – 7 p.m.
Division 4
► Battle Creek St. Philip vs. Adrian Lenawee Christian – 6 p.m.
► Allen Park Inter-City Baptist vs. Ubly – 6 p.m.
► Ironwood vs. Indian River Inland Lakes – 6 p.m.
► Traverse City Christian vs. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart – 6 p.m.
Once Semifinals and Finals matches are determined, those links will be found by clicking Volleyball.
The Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals will be competed at three sites, with preliminaries Friday and championships in all events Saturday. Visit the Girls Swimming & Diving page of the MHSAA Website (https://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/Girls-Swimming-Diving) for full details. Competition begins at noon both days, and all three meets will be broadcast both days, with announcers detailing the action as well during Saturday’s championship events:
► Lower Peninsula Division 1 at Holland Aquatic Center
► Lower Peninsula Division 2 at Oakland University
► Lower Peninsula Division 3 at Calvin University
The 8-player football season concludes Saturday with championship games in both divisions at Superior Dome at Northern Michigan University. Both games will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv – the Division 1 Final between Adrian Lenawee Christian and Suttons Bay kicks off at 11 a.m., and Division 2 between Colon and Powers North Central will begin approximately 2 p.m. Both will re-air on MHSAA media partner Bally Sports Detroit’s primary channel Nov. 25, with Division 1 at 7 p.m. and Division 2 at 10 p.m.
Bally Sports Detroit also will continue its weekly live cable TV broadcasts with Saturday’s 11-Player Division 1 Semifinal between Sterling Heights Stevenson and Belleville. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on BSD’s primary channel, and the game also may be watched on the BSD website and app.
For a complete schedule of 11-Player Semifinals to be broadcast live Saturday on MHSAA.tv, click Football. Links to broadcasts will be added throughout this week.
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
More than 400 MHSAA member schools are participants in the School Broadcast Program, now in its 13th year, producing games using traditional hands-on student crews or via Pixellot cameras installed at stadiums and gymnasiums across the state. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.