Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting

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 SBPWith 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.)

Football Streaming Returns to MHSAA TV

August 27, 2019

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

For the third straight year, MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network will open the high school football season with live streaming video of contests from gridiron festivals in Detroit and Flint.

The action begins at 4 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 29) when Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and Utica Eisenhower open the 15th Annual Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic at Tom Adams Stadium on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit, and Grand Blanc faces Midland Dow in the Third Annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic at historic Atwood Stadium in Flint on the campus of Kettering University.

The nightcap games on Thursday are Clinton Township Chippewa Valley vs. Saline at 7 p.m. in Detroit and Goodrich against Flint Powers Catholic in Flint at 7:30 p.m.

Here’s the schedule for the other games:

Prep Kickoff Classic – Detroit

Friday - Aug. 30
Birmingham Groves v. Grosse Pointe South, 4 p.m.
Muskegon v. Warren De La Salle Collegiate, 7 p.m. 
Saturday - Aug. 31
Detroit Catholic Central v. Detroit Martin Luther King, 1 p.m.
Detroit Cass Tech v. Chicago Wendell Phillips Academy, 4 p.m.

Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Flint

Friday, Aug. 30
Otisville LakeVille v. North Branch, 4 p.m.
Flint Carman-Ainsworth v. Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.

The NFHS Network is also working with FOX Sports Detroit to help promote the 2019 edition of Football Week In Michigan, by making the games in Detroit available to cable or satellite subscribers of that channel on FOX Sports GO!
 
The games in Detroit and Flint are part of a 25-game weekend on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv, which is also highlighted by Week 1 showdowns between Pewamo-Westphalia and Reading at Olivet College and Hudson at Ithaca both at 7 p.m. Thursday. 

Here’s a list of the varsity events being broadcast on the network over the coming week: 

Tuesday, Aug. 27
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. TBD  - 1 PM
Boys Soccer – Ann Arbor Greenhills vs. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood – 4:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Byron Center Charter School  - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. TBA  - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester  vs. Brooklyn Columbia Central   - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball – Bloom. Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart vs. Southfield Christian  - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Cedar Springs  vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern   - 6:45 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens vs. Berkley   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Novi  vs. Salem   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Birmingham Seaholm vs. Bloomfield Hills   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon  vs. Milford   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy  vs. Clarkston   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Lapeer vs. Notre Dame Prep  - 7:30 PM
 
Wednesday, Aug. 28
Boys Soccer – Dexter vs. Saline – 4 PM
Girls Volleyball - Troy Athens vs. TBA  - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland  vs. Bay City Western   - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland  vs. Gladwin   - 6 PM
Girls Volleyball - Pentwater vs. Hart  - 6 PM
Boys Soccer - Portage Northern  vs. Battle Creek Central   - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - South Lyon East  vs. Whitmore Lake   - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer – Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central vs. Cedar Springs – 6:45 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens vs. Bloomfield Hills   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Saline  vs. Dexter   - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Fowler vs. Pewamo-Westphalia  - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland  vs. Beaverton   - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Morley Stanwood  vs. Lakeview   - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Owosso   - 7 PM
 
Thursday, Aug. 29
Boys Soccer - Petoskey  vs. Maple City Glen Lake   - 1 PM
Boys Soccer - Petoskey  vs. Ogemaw Heights   - 3 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic – Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice vs. Utica Eisenhower  - 4 PM
2019 Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Grand Blanc vs. Midland Dow - 4 PM
Football - Maple City Glen Lake  vs. Millington   - 6 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon East  vs. Walled Lake Western   - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball – Otisville LakeVille vs. Byron Center Charter  - 6:30 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic – Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley vs Saline  - 7 PM
Football - Troy Athens vs. Detroit Old Redford Preparatory   - 7 PM
Football - Calumet  vs. Wakefield-Marenisco   - 7 PM
Football - Cedar Springs  vs. Saginaw Swan Valley   - 7 PM
Football - Freeland  vs. Marshall   - 7 PM
Football - Ithaca  vs. Hudson   - 7 PM
Football – Stevensville Lakeshore  vs. Holland West Ottawa   - 7 PM
Football - Birmingham Seaholm vs. Ferndale   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon  vs. Lakeland   - 7 PM
Football - Allegan vs. Plainwell  - 7 PM
Football - Lake Orion vs. Lapeer  - 7 PM
Football - Reading vs. Pewamo-Westphalia at Olivet College  - 7 PM
Football - Zeeland West vs. East Grand Rapids  - 7 PM
2019 Flint Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Goodrich vs. Flint Powers Catholic - 7:30 PM
Football - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Linden   - 7:30 PM
 
 
Friday, Aug. 30
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic - Grosse Pointe South vs Birmingham Groves  - 4 PM
2019 Flint Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Otisville LakeVille vs. North Branch - 4 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic - Warren De La Salle Collegiate vs Muskegon  - 7 PM
Football - Bad Axe vs. Harbor Beach   - 7 PM
2019 Flint Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Flint Carman-Ainsworth vs. Port Huron - 7:30 PM
 
 
Saturday, Aug. 31
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic - Detroit Catholic Central vs Detroit King  - 1 PM
Football - Norway  vs. Lake Linden-Hubbell   - 2 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic – Phillips Academy (IL) vs Detroit Cass Tech  - 4 PM
 
Tuesday, Sept. 3
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Montrose   - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester  vs. Blissfield   - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Montrose   - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens vs. TBA  - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Brighton  vs. Novi   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Freeland  vs. Essexville Garber   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Howell  vs. Salem   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Imlay City vs. Notre Dame Prep  - 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. 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.