MHSAA TV Marches On The Mats
February 27, 2018
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
Another big weekend of MHSAA Championships take place on Friday and Saturday (March 2-3) on MHSAA.tv, as March Magic marches onto the Individual Wrestling and Girls Competitive Cheer mats.
Live Finals streaming this week begins at noon Friday from Ford Field in Detroit at the Individual Wrestling Finals. Manned cameras will be on each of 20 mats on the floor, and broadcasts will include full graphics to indicate the participants in each match, plus full in-progress scoring information via Trackwrestling.
The Girls Competitive Cheer Finals at the DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids begin Friday evening with Division 1, followed by the other three divisions Saturday.
Here’s the complete wrestling coverage schedule:
- Friday – Rounds 1-2-3-4 – Noon
- Friday – Semifinal Round – 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday – Rounds 6-7-8 – 8:30 a.m. - Round 6 at 8:30 a.m. is the third Consolation round. Round 7 at about 9:45 a.m. is the fourth Consolation Round. Round 8 at about 11 a.m. is the final round in the Consolation bracket.
- Saturday – Finals – 3 p.m.
- Saturday – Awards – 6 p.m. (TENTATIVE - Time approximate following conclusion of wrestling)
You can get to all of the wrestling action on a single landing page on the NFHS Network – Click Here.
Here’s the complete cheer coverage schedule:
- Friday – Division 1 – 6 p.m. (East Kentwood, Grand Blanc, Grandville, Lake Orion, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, Sterling Heights Stevenson)
- Saturday – Division 2 – 10 a.m. (Allen Park, Dearborn Divine Child, DeWitt, Gibraltar Carlson, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills, Muskegon Mona Shores, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer,
Southgate Anderson) - Saturday - Division 4 – 2 p.m. (Addison, Adrian Madison, Farwell, Houghton Lake, Hudson, Merrill, Pewamo-Westphalia, Sanford Meridian)
- Saturday - Division 3 – 6 p.m. (Charlotte, Comstock Park, Escanaba, Flat Rock, Lake Odessa Lakewood, Monroe Jefferson, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Richmond)
The continued Wrestling and full Cheer coverage is part of six straight weekends of live MHSAA Championship coverage on MHSAA.tv, and online viewers can catch every weekend of action for one low cost of $9.95. Over the next three weeks of live Winter championship coverage, the following events will be featured:
- March 8-10 – Ice Hockey Semifinals & Finals
- March 13 – Girls Basketball Quarterfinals
- March 15-16 – Girls Basketball Semifinals
- March 20 – Boys Basketball Quarterfinals
- March 22-23 – Boys Basketball Semifinals
In addition to all of the tournament action, regular-season coverage of contests by participants in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program will bring more than 45 contests into homes over the coming week – including a number of District contests in Girls Basketball.
Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members:
Tuesday, Feb. 27
- Freshman Boys Basketball - Ludington at Fremont – 4 p.m.
- Freshman Boys Basketball - Comstock at Plainwell - 4:15 p.m.
- Freshman Boys Basketball – Standish-Sterling at Freeland - 4:30 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Comstock at Plainwell - 5:45 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Houghton at Calumet - 5:45 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Standish-Sterling at Freeland - 6 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Ludington at Fremont - 6 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Fowlerville at Hartland - 7 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Berkley at Lake Orion - 7 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Comstock at Plainwell - 7:15 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Houghton at Calumet - 7:15 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Chassell at Lake Linden-Hubbell - 7:20 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Standish-Sterling at Freeland - 7:30 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Ludington at Fremont - 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 28
- Girls Basketball – Fowlerville v. Lansing Sexton – MHSAA District Semi at Haslett – 5:30 p.m.
- Girls Basketball - Carrollton v. Midland Bullock Creek/Freeland winner – MHSAA District Semi at Freeland - 6 p.m.
- Girls Basketball – Sparta v. Belding/Fremont winner – MHSAA District Semi at Fremont - 6 p.m.
- Girls Basketball - Wellspring Prep v. Ada Forest Hills Eastern/Grand Rapids Catholic Central winner – MHSAA District Semi at Comstock Park - 6 p.m.
- Girls Basketball – MHSAA District Semi at Ann Arbor Greenhills – 6 p.m.
- Girls Basketball - Iron Mountain at Norway – MHSAA District Semi - 6:45 p.m.
- Girls Basketball – Williamston at Haslett – MHSAA District Semi – 7 p.m.
- Girls Basketball - Grant v. Howard City Tri-County/Newaygo winner – MHSAA District Semi at Fremont - 7:30 p.m.
- Girls Basketball – Saginaw Swan Valley v. Bay City John Glenn/Essexville Garber winner – MHSAA District Semi at Freeland - 7:30 p.m.
- Girls Basketball – MHSAA District Semi at Ann Arbor Greenhills – 7:30 p.m.
- Girls Basketball - Coopersville v. Grand Rapids West Catholic/Comstock Park winner – MHSAA District at Comstock Park - 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, March 1
- Freshman Boys Basketball - Utica at Macomb Lutheran North - 4 p.m.
- Freshman Boys Basketball - TBA at Plainwell - 4:15 p.m.
- Freshman Boys Basketball - Beaverton at Harrison - 4:30 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball – Ottawa Lake Whiteford at Ann Arbor Greenhills – 5 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Utica at Macomb Lutheran North - 5:30 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - TBA at Plainwell - 5:45 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Beaverton at Harrison - 6 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Riverside West at Freeland - 6 p.m.
- JV Boys Basketball - Rapid River at Norway - 6:30 p.m.
- Boys Basketball – Ottawa Lake Whiteford at Ann Arbor Greenhills – 7 p.m.
- Boys Basketball – Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart at Vestaburg - 7 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Fowlerville at Charlotte - 7 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Utica at Macomb Lutheran North - 7 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - TBA at Plainwell - 7:15 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Riverside West at Freeland - 7:30 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Beaverton at Harrison - 7:30 p.m.
- Boys Basketball - Rapid River at Norway - 8 p.m.
Friday, March 2
- Girls Basketball – MHSAA District Final at Comstock Park - 7 p.m.
- Girls Basketball – MHSAA District Final at Freeland - 7 p.m.
- Girls Basketball – MHSAA District Final at Fremont - 7 p.m.
Monday, March 5
- Boys Basketball – Chassel at Dollar Bay – MHSAA District – 5:30 p.m.
- Boys Basketball – Painesdale Jeffers v. Ontonagon at Norway – MHSAA District – 7:30 p.m.
Be sure to check “Upcoming Events” on the MHSAA.tv home page daily for last-minute additions.
In its ninth 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.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.
Highlights of games produced in the past week by MHSAA School Broadcast Program members
feature a girls basketball game, Powers North Central at Norway, and a boys basketball game, Fowlerville at Lansing Catholic.
Highlights can be found each week on the MHSAA.tv website, the home page of the MHSAA Website, and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube.
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.)