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.)
Boys Hoops Districts Tip Off on MHSAA TV
March 9, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
Here is the schedule for MHSAA Boys Basketball District first-round games with live streaming video on Monday (March 9) on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv:
- District 3 at Flushing - Saginaw v. Flushing 5:30 PM; Flint Carman-Ainsworth v. Saginaw Heritage 7 PM
- District 4 at Grand Blanc - Flint Southwestern v. Flint Kearsley 6 PM
- District 5 at Clarkston - Romeo v. Lake Orion 7 PM
- District 6 at West Bloomfield - Orchard Lake St Mary's v. Pontiac 5 PM; Waterford Mott v. Auburn Hills Avondale 7 PM
- District 7 at Walled Lake Northern - Walled Lake Northern v. Walled Lake Central 7 PM; Howell v. Hartland 7 PM
- District 8 at Howell - Hartland at Howell 7 PM
- District 9 at Cedar Springs - Cedar Springs v. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 7 PM
- District 11 at Grandville - Grandville v. Zeeland East 7 PM
- District 13 at St. Joseph - Stevensville Lakeshore v. Portage Northern 5 PM; Portage Central v. Kalamazoo Central 7 PM
- District 17 at Brighton - Ann Arbor Skyline v. Pinckney 5 PM; South Lyon East v. Brighton 7 PM
- District 18 at Saline - Ann Arbor Huron v. Saline 5:30 PM; Ypsilanti Lincoln v. Ann Arbor Pioneer 7 PM
- District 35 at Cadillac - Cadillac v. Manistee 6 PM; Ludington v. Benzie Central 8 PM
- District 36 at Clare - Clare v. Standish-Sterling 6 PM; Ogemaw Heights v. Gladwin 7:30 PM
- District 39 at Bridgeport - Bridgeport v. Clio 5:30 PM; Frankenmuth v. Birch Run 7:30 PM
- District 40 at Corunna - Ovid-Elsie v. Durand 5:30 PM; Perry v. Chesaning 7 PM
- District 46 at Holland Christian - Benton Harbor v. Holland Christian 5 PM
- District 49 at Williamston - Williamston v. Lansing Eastern 7 PM; Lansing Catholic v. Fowlerville 5:30 PM
- District 62 at Macomb Lutheran North - Macomb Lutheran North v. New Haven 6 PM
- District 63 at Armada - Croswell-Lexington v. Marysville 6 PM; Almont v. Armada 7:30 PM
- District 64 at Flint Powers Catholic - Goodrich v. North Branch 6 PM; Flint Powers Catholic v. Flint Hamady 7:30 PM
- District 65 at Calumet - Calumet v. West Iron County 7 PM; Negaunee v. Manistique 7 PM
- District 66 at Negaunee - Negaunee v. Manistique 7 PM
- District 75 at Pewamo-Westphalia - Pewamo-Westphalia v. Saranac 6 PM; Potterville v. Delton Kellogg 7:30 PM
- District 76 at Grandville Calvin Christian - Grand Rapids Covenant Christian v. Saugatuck 5:30 PM; Fennville v. Grandville Calvin Christian 7:15 PM
- District 88 at Riverview Gabriel Richard - Ecorse v. Canton Prep 7 PM
- District 95 at New Lothrop - New Lothrop v. Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy 7 PM
- District 95 at Hemlock - Hemlock v. St Charles 7 PM
- District 95 at Montrose - Montrose v. Reese 7 PM
- District 103 at Pellston - Pellston v. Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian 5:30 PM; Alanson v. Beaver Island 7 PM
- District 107 at Brethren - Frankfort v. Mesick 6 PM; Brethren v. Bear Lake 7:30 PM
- District 121 at Plymouth Christian Academy - Ann Arbor Central Academy v. Lutheran Westland 5:30 PM; Westland Huron Valley Lutheran v. Ann Arbor Rudolf Steiner 7 PM
- District 124 at Bloomfield Hills Roeper High School - Bloomfield Hills Roeper v. Southfield Manoogian 6 PM; Auburn Hills Oakland Christian v. Pontiac Academy for Excellence 6 PM
- District 125 at Oakland Christian School - Sterling Heights Parkway Christian v. Auburn Hills Christian 7:30 PM
The schedules for the District Semifinals and Finals will be released the day before that round. You can always reach a list of the upcoming tournament games by Clicking Here.
The Boys Basketball action is part of a week of more than 150 live events on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network. You can Click Here to look at the latest list of all upcoming varsity games.
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.