Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting

Highlights

By Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

December 7, 2021

DETROIT – An hour before kickoff of the first game of 11-Player Football Finals weekend – the Division 8 championship decider between Hudson and Beal City – Bally Sports Detroit announcers Evan Stockton and Rob Rubick were busy preparing to call the action from the television booth on the third level of Ford Field.

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.

Mount Pleasant SBP “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.)

Highlights

MHSAA TV Sets OAA Red Volleyball Race

October 15, 2019

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

The chase for the Oakland Activities Association Red volleyball title will get a lot of attention on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network this week, with matches on Tuesday (Oct. 15) and Thursday (Oct. 17) that will determine the champion.

Clarkston enters the week on top of the Red at 5-0 in division play with Lake Orion and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek chasing the Wolves at 4-1. Lake Orion is at Stoney Creek on Tuesday, while Clarkston can clinch at least a share of the title hosting Rochester Adams (3-2) – both games will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv. On Thursday, Clarkston at Troy (1-4) and Adams at Lake Orion will both be streamed live, while West Bloomfield (2-3) is at Stoney Creek.

Clarkston was the highest-ranked OAA team in last week’s statewide coaches poll, and Lake Orion was an honorable mention.

Among School Broadcast Program-produced football streams Friday (Oct. 18) is Grand Rapids Christian at East Grand Rapids for the lead in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold. Saline can clinch the Southeastern Conference Red title with a win over visiting Ann Arbor Pioneer, but a Pioneer win would put both teams tied at the top and possibly be joined by Temperance Bedford. Fowler is at Pewamo-Westphalia to determine the Central Michigan Athletic Conference crown.

Plus, Boys District Semifinal and Final games from a number of sites around the state will be streamed. Here’s the complete list of varsity-level events to be broadcast live during the coming week:

All of the games are produced by participants in the School Broadcast Program – with East Lansing, Lake Orion, Pewamo-Westphalia, Saline, Marquette, Fowlerville, Montrose and Comstock Park deploying traditional, hands-on, student crew crews to capture the action. The other games are produced by schools using Pixellot – the NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution.

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 $9.95 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.

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