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.)
List of 2021-22 MHSAA Network Affiliates Growing as Fall Sports Ramp Up
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 31, 2021
More than 70 radio stations and web audio outlets have joined a growing list of Michigan High School Athletic Association Network affiliates for the 2021-22 school year, with more expected to come on board as fall sports schedules continue to build toward a busy September and October.
Affiliates carry games and also the MHSAA Network radio show – “This Week in High School Sports” – which began its seventh season last week.
A list of MHSAA Network affiliates can be found on the MHSAA Website. Below is a list of those affiliates and links to their broadcast platforms through Aug. 30.
Alma - WQBX (104.9 FM)
Auburn Hills - WAHS (89.5 FM)
Benton Harbor - WSJM (94.9 FM)
Bloomfield Hills - WBFH (88.1 FM)
Bloomfield Hills - BRBN
Canton - WSDP (88.1 FM)
Caro - WIDL (92.1 FM)
Cheboygan - WCBY (1240 AM)
Cheboygan - WCBY (100.7 FM)
Deckerville - Thumb Tailgater Sports
Dowagiac - Dowagiac Chieftains Network
Escanaba - WCHT (93.5 FM)
Escanaba - WCHT (600 AM)
Escanaba - WYKX (104.7 FM)
Escanaba - WDBC (94.5 FM)
Escanaba - WUPF (107.3 FM)
Ferndale - WDTK (101.5 FM)
Frankenmuth - Frankenmuth Sports Network
Flushing - MFNT
Gaylord - WMJZ (101.5 FM)
Grand Haven - WGHN (92.1 FM)
Grand Haven - WGHN (94.9 FM)
Grand Haven - WGHN (1370 AM)
Grand Haven - WMPA (93.1 FM)
Grand Haven - WAWL (103.5 FM)
Grand Haven - Michigan Game Night
Grand Haven - JoeInsider.com
Grand Rapids - WMAX (96.1 FM)
Grayling - WQON (100.3 FM)
Grayling - WGRY (101.1 FM)
Grayling - WJML (1110 AM)
Grayling - WJNL (1210 AM)
Grayling - W266CS (101.1 FM)
Hancock - WMPL (920 AM)
Hillman - WKJZ (94.9 FM)
Hillsdale - WCSR (92.1 FM)
Hillsdale - WCSR (99.5 FM)
Holland - WHTC (1450 AM)
Holland - WYVN (92.7 FM)
Houghton - WHKB (102.3)
Iron Mountain - WZNL (94.3 FM)
Ironwood - WJMS (590 AM)
Jackson - WKHM (970 AM)
Jackson - WKHM (105.3 FM)
Manistique - WTIQ (1490 AM)
Marquette - WFXD (103.3 FM)
Marquette - WZAM (106.9 FM)
Marquette - WZAM (970 AM)
Marquette - W286BC (105.1 FM)
Marquette - W262AG (99.9 FM)
Marquette - WKQS (101.9 FM)
Marquette - WRUP (98.3 FM)
Marquette - GTO (97.5 FM)
Marquette - WUPG (96.7 FM)
Marquette - WUPT (100.3 FM)
Midland - WMPX (97.7 FM)
Mt. Pleasant - WMMI (92.3 FM)
Muskegon - WLCS (98.3 FM)
Muskegon - WVIB (100.1 FM)
Novi - WOVI (89.5 FM)
Ontonagon - WUPY (101.1 FM)
Ovid - WOES (91.3 FM)
Prudenville - WTWS (92.1 FM)
Rockford - Michigan Sports Radio
Sault Ste. Marie - WUPN (95.1 FM)
St. Ignace - WWMK (106.3 FM)
Stevensville - Lakeshore Lancers Network
Tawas City - WKJC (104.7 FM)
Tawas City - WQLB (103.3 FM)
Tawas City - WTZM (106.1 FM)
Temperance - WMLZ-LP (107.9 FM)
Traverse City - WWMN (106.3 FM)
Warren - WPHS (89.1 FM)
West Bloomfield - WBLD (89.3)
MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network enjoyed an exciting opening weekend of football video streaming, with 16 games played as part of the Vehicle City Gridiron Classic, Battle at the Big House and Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic receiving a combined 22,494 live views on MHSAA.tv, with the Big House game featuring Traverse City Central and DeWitt leading that list with nearly 5,000 views. Those totals do not include views by those who watched two Xenith games live on MHSAA broadcast partner Bally Sports Detroit’s cable channel and digital platforms.
Bally Sports Detroit will take its live cable broadcast to Muskegon on Friday (Sept. 3) for the Big Reds’ 7 p.m. matchup with Detroit Cass Tech. The game can be watched on live TV on Bally Sports Detroit-PLUS and on BSD’s website.
MHSAA broadcast partner State Champs! Sports Network will begin its series of live Saturday football streams this week as well, covering Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean at Grand Rapids Catholic Central at 4 p.m. Sept. 4.
A number of other intriguing events are scheduled to be streamed live on MHSAA.tv, including the following:
FOOTBALL
Sept. 2: Cedar Springs at Rockford, 7 p.m.
Sept. 2: Livonia Stevenson at Dearborn Fordson, 7 p.m.
All football games: MHSAA.tv Football
VOLLEYBALL
Aug. 31: Marquette at Menominee, 7 p.m.
Sept. 1: Traverse City Central at Traverse City West, 5 p.m.
Sept. 1: Saginaw Valley Lutheran at Midland Bullock Creek, 7 p.m.
All volleyball matches: MHSAA.tv Volleyball
BOYS SOCCER
Sept. 1: Ludington at Whitehall, 5:45 p.m.
Sept. 1: East Grand Rapids at Grand Rapids South Christian, 6:45 p.m.
Sept. 2: Ann Arbor Skyline at Saline, 7 p.m.
All soccer matches: MHSAA.tv Boys Soccer
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.