![Montrose SBP](/sites/default/files/2021-12/211207_fieldtrip_2H.jpg)
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.)
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Network Loaded with Playoff Action
November 3, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
To say there’s a lot of great high school action in the coming week on the MHSAA.tv, MHSAANetwork.com and FOXSportsDetroit.com websites is an understatement.
More Girls Volleyball Tournament action than ever before runs throughout a week culminating with more than 50 Football Playoff games, the Boys Soccer Finals and two days of Cross Country Finals.
The Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals will take place Friday and Saturday (Nov. 6-7) at Michigan International Speedway, with a modified format. There will be two heats in each division for each gender. The first race will include third-place Regional team finishers and individual qualifiers, with the second race made up of teams that finished first or second at Regionals.
The Cross Country coverage is enhanced this year with an additional camera on the back of the course to better capture the first 800 meters, and the 1.5-mile and 2.25-mile marks of the race. The traditional Finish Line camera also will cover the action, with commentary from a crew of announcers.
Here’s the schedule:
Friday – Nov. 6
Division 1 Finals - Boys at 9:30 and 10 a.m. - Girls at 11 and 11:30 a.m.
Division 2 Finals - Boys at 1:30 and 2 p.m. - Girls at 3 and 3:30 p.m.
Saturday – Nov. 7
Division 3 Finals - Boys at 9:30 and 10 a.m. - Girls at 11 and 11:30 a.m.
Division 4 Finals - Boys at 1:30 and 2 p.m. - Girls at 3 and 3:30 p.m.
On Saturday the Boys Soccer Finals will have live audio and video streaming of its championship games from Novi and Comstock Park High Schools. Two games will be played at each site with the game times set for Noon and 3 p.m. The finalists will be determined following Semifinal play on Wednesday (Nov. 4), with all four of those games being streaming live video on MHSAA.tv and live audio on MHSAANetwork.com.
Lots of Football Playoff games will take place beginning Friday evening with three featured games as part of the FOX Sports Detroit “Game of the Week” and the FOX Sports Prep Zone. All of these games can be seen on FoxSportsDetroit.com and on FOX Sports Go! for handheld and streaming devices like Roku. Here are this weekend games:
- Hudsonville at Rockford – Prep Zone – Friday, 7 p.m.
- Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central at Muskegon Mona Shores – Prep Zone – Friday, 7 p.m.
- Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek – FOX Sports Detroit “Game of the Week” – Friday, 7:30 p.m.
MHSAA.tv will play host to more than 50 District Semifinal Football Playoff games over the weekend, most produced by participants in the School Broadcast Program with traditional student crews or Pixellot units. The NFHS Network is providing bonus coverage of one additional game on Friday – Bath at Laingsburg. Here’s the complete schedule:
Friday - Nov. 6
Suttons Bay vs. Whittemore-Prescott - 6 PM
Whitehall vs. Coopersville - 6 PM
Montrose vs. Chesaning - 6:40 PM
Adrian Lenawee Christian vs. Mayville - 6:50 PM
DeWitt vs. Lansing Waverly - 6:50 PM
Lowell vs. Caledonia - 6:55 PM
Belleville vs. Northville - 7 PM
Birmingham Seaholm vs. Birmingham Groves - 7 PM
Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Dearborn - 7 PM
Cadillac vs. Alma - 7 PM
Cass City vs. Sandusky - 7 PM
Charlevoix vs. Mancelona - 7 PM
Corunna vs. Richmond - 7 PM
Detroit Catholic Central vs. Novi - 7 PM
East Grand Rapids vs. Holland - 7 PM
East Lansing vs. Portage Central - 7 PM
Fenton vs. North Farmington - 7 PM
Frankenmuth vs. Almont - 7 PM
Freeland vs. Midland Bullock Creek - 7 PM
Grand Rapids Catholic Central vs. Belding - 7 PM
Ithaca vs. Ravenna - 7 PM
Laingsburg vs. Bath - 7 PM
Madison Heights Lamphere vs. Sterling Heights Chandler Park - 7 PM
Manistee vs. Grayling - 7 PM
Maple City Glen Lake vs. Boyne City - 7 PM
Mason vs. Fowlerville - 7 PM
Millington vs. Mt Morris - 7 PM
Muskegon Mona Shores vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central - 7 PM – FOX Sports Prep Zone
New Lothrop vs. Burton Bendle - 7 PM
Ortonville Brandon vs. Goodrich - 7 PM
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Detroit Country Day - 7 PM
Portage Northern vs. Battle Creek Lakeview - 7 PM
Redford Union vs. Livonia Clarenceville - 7 PM
Riverview Gabriel Richard vs. Jackson Lumen Christi - 7 PM
Rockford vs. Hudsonville - 7 PM – FOX Sports Prep Zone
Romulus Summit Academy North vs. Dearborn Heights Robichaud - 7 PM
Saline vs. Ann Arbor Huron - 7 PM
South Lyon vs. Walled Lake Western - 7 PM
St. Joseph vs. Battle Creek Harper Creek - 7 PM
Traverse City Central vs. Swartz Creek - 7 PM
West Bloomfield vs. Troy - 7 PM
White Lake Lakeland vs. Howell - 7 PM
Zeeland West vs. Middleville Thornapple Kellogg - 7 PM
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek vs. Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley - 7:30 PM – FOX Sports Detroit Game of Week
Saturday - Nov. 7
Traverse City St. Francis vs. Harbor Springs - 12 PM
Hemlock vs. Bad Axe - 1 PM
Kinde North Huron vs. Peck - 1 PM
Kingsley vs. Gladwin - 1 PM
Midland vs. Midland Dow - 1 PM
Pewamo-Westphalia vs. North Muskegon - 1 PM
Reed City vs. Kingsford - 1 PM
Stevensville Lakeshore vs. Coldwater - 1 PM
Mount Pleasant vs. Marquette - 2 PM
Girls Volleyball District Semifinals and Finals take place Wednesday through Saturday (Nov. 3-7). Separate releases will be issued with detailed Semifinal and Final coverage.
This week, more 250 events at all levels in a variety of sports will be available on the NFHS Network/MHSAA.TV. Monthly subscriptions are $10.99. Click for a complete list of upcoming games, and for a complete list of on-demand games.
Fans also can type their school name into the search field on the MHSAA.tv page to search for events. Varsity games being streamed also have links from the MHSAA Website’s Score Center, and from the schedules on individual school pages. Clicking on the green TV set icon listed next to an event will take you directly to a game. You can also watch on Roku enabled devices.
Now in its 12th 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. A portion of every subscription sold by an SBP 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.