![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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MHSAA TV Set to Stream 200 Events
September 4, 2019
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
As the fall sports season swings into high gear, live streaming video on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network will reach higher numbers as well, with nearly 200 events scheduled over the next seven days.
The amount of content is evenly split between varsity and subvarsity competition, the growing number of freshman and junior varsity games a result of more schools having their Pixellot units come on line. 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. Once installed, a school needs only to input its schedules, and events like triple-header soccer evenings become a reality.
Here’s a list of the upcoming varsity level events taking place over the coming week on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network:
Wednesday - Sept. 4
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep v. TBA - 1 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland v. Midland Bullock Creek - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Ithaca v. Saginaw Nouvel - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland v. Sanford Meridian - 6 PM
Girls Volleyball - Wayne Memorial v. Howell - 6:15 PM
Girls Volleyball - Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood v. Madison Heights Bishop Foley - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Fowlerville v. Lansing Eastern - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Novi v. Westland John Glenn - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Cedar Springs v. TBA - 6:45 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland v. Merrill - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Hemlock v. Saginaw Nouvel - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Waterford Our Lady v. Macomb Lutheran North - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Petoskey v. Traverse City West - 7 PM
Thursday - Sept. 5
Girls Volleyball - Manchester v. Dexter - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester v. Clinton - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Fremont v. TBA - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Grand Rapids Catholic Central v. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - 6 PM
Girls Volleyball - Fenton v. Swartz Creek - 6:15 PM
Girls Volleyball - Holly v. Linden - 6:15 PM
Girls Volleyball - Corunna v. Lake Fenton - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Clarkston Everest Collegiate v. Southfield Christian - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Kalamazoo Christian v. Coloma - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Flint Kearsley v. Flushing - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Oakland Christian v. Livonia Clarenceville - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Flint Powers Catholic v. Frankenmuth - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Petoskey v. Alpena - 6:45 PM
Girls Volleyball - Linden v. Holly - 6:45 PM
Girls Volleyball - Chassell v. Dollar Bay - 6:50 PM
Boys Soccer - Clare v. Roscommon - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Fowlerville v. Howell - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - White Lake Lakeland v. Walled Lake Central - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Saline v. Ann Arbor Skyline - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Saline v. Ann Arbor Skyline - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - St. Charles v. Vestaburg - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - West Bloomfield v. Birmingham Seaholm - 7 PM
Friday - Sept. 6
Football - Troy Athens v. Troy - 7 PM
Football - Calumet v. Negaunee - 7 PM
Football - Clare v. Gladwin - 7 PM
Football - Frankenmuth v. Standish-Sterling - 7 PM
Football - St. Clair Shores Lake Shore v. Warren Lincoln - 7 PM
Football - White Lake Lakeland v. Waterford Mott - 7 PM
Football - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep v. Muskegon Catholic Central - 7 PM
Football - Novi v. Brighton - 7 PM
Football - Ovid-Elsie v. Montrose - 7 PM
Football - Petoskey v. Escanaba - 7 PM
Football - Portage Northern v. Stevensville Lakeshore - 7 PM
Football - South Lyon East v. Walled Lake Western - 7 PM
Football - South Lyon v. Trenton - 7 PM
Football - Brownstown Woodhaven v. Gibraltar Carlson - 7 PM
Football - Corunna v. Fowlerville - 7 PM
Football – Saginaw Heritage v. Grand Blanc - 7 PM
Football – Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern v. E. Grand Rapids - 7 PM
Football - Saranac v. Pewamo-Westphalia - 7 PM
Football - Southfield A&T v. Lake Orion - 7 PM
Football – London St. Thomas Aquinas v. Warren De La Salle Collegiate - 7 PM
Football - Traverse City v. Marquette - 7 PM
Football – Birmingham Groves at West Bloomfield – 7 PM
Football – Rockford v. Lowell – 7 PM
Football – Tolono (IL) Unity v. Pontiac - 8 PM
Saturday - Sept. 7
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens v. TBA - 1 PM
Boys Soccer - Portage Northern v. Mattawan - 6:45 PM
Football - Grand Rapids Catholic Central v. Niles (IL) Notre Dame - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Bangor v. Watervliet - 8 AM
Girls Volleyball - Corunna v. TBA - 8:30 AM
Girls Volleyball - Petoskey v. TBA - 9 AM
Monday - Sept. 9
Girls Volleyball - Hemlock v. TBA - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester v. Onsted - 5:30 PM
Boys Soccer - St. Clair Shores Lake Shore v. Macomb Lutheran North - 6 PM
Boys Soccer - White Lake Lakeland v. Novi - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Pellston v. Charlevoix - 7:30 PM
Tuesday - Sept. 10
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep v. TBA - 1 PM
Boys Soccer - Byron v. Montrose - 4:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie v. Otisville LakeVille - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Grand Rapids Catholic Central v. Comstock Park - 6 PM
Girls Volleyball - St. Clair Shores Lake Shore v. Marine City - 6 PM
Boys Soccer - Stevensville Lakeshore v. Portage Northern - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Portage Northern v. Stevensville Lakeshore - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Manchester v. Vandercook Lake - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball – Mt. Morris v. Chesaning - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - New Lothrop v. Montrose - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Petoskey v. Cadillac - 6:45 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens v. North Farmington - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Brighton v. Salem - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - White Lake Lakeland v. Waterford Mott - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Novi v. Hartland - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Saline v. Ann Arbor Pioneer - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon v. South Lyon East - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Fremont v. Reed City - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Kalamazoo Christian v. Constantine - 7 PM
Boys Soccer – Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice v. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep - 7:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Bad Axe v. Caro - 7:30 PM
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. 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.