MHSAA TV Offers 48 Football Games
September 18, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
Here is an updated schedule of varsity Football games for this weekend on the NFHS Network/MHSAA.tv:
Friday - Sept. 18
East Kentwood vs. Hudsonville - 5:30 PM
Lowell vs. East Grand Rapids - 5:50 PM
Rockford vs. Jenison - 6 PM
Montrose vs. Ovid-Elsie - 6:40 PM
Watervliet vs. Galesburg-Augusta - 6:50 PM
Howell vs. Plymouth - 6:55 PM
Petoskey vs. Gaylord - 7 PM
Saline vs. Ypsilanti Community - 7 PM
Stevensville Lakeshore vs. Portage Northern - 7 PM
Waterford Kettering vs. South Lyon - 7 PM
Grand Blanc vs. Flint Carman-Ainsworth - 7 PM
Ithaca vs. Saginaw Nouvel - 7 PM
Macomb L'Anse Creuse North vs. Detroit Country Day - 7 PM
Marquette vs. Menominee - 7 PM
Haslett vs. Mason - 7 PM
Fowlerville vs. Williamston - 7 PM
Calumet vs. Kingsford - 7 PM
Laingsburg vs. Pewamo-Westphalia - 7 PM
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore vs. Detroit Loyola - 7 PM
Plainwell vs. Kalamazoo Loy Norrix - 7 PM
Fenton vs. Holly - 7 PM
Bad Axe vs. Sandusky - 7 PM
Harbor Beach vs. Ubly - 7 PM
Cedar Springs vs. Middleville Thornapple Kellogg - 7 PM
Detroit Catholic Central vs. Harper Woods - 7 PM
Manchester vs. Addison - 7 PM
Traverse City Central vs. Traverse City West - 7 PM
Saginaw Heritage vs. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep - 7 PM
Madison Heights Lamphere vs. Warren Lincoln - 7 PM
Durand Area vs. Byron Center - 7 PM
DeWitt vs. Portland - 7 PM
Comstock Park vs. Belding Area - 7 PM
Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Wyandotte Roosevelt - 7 PM
Freeland vs. Frankenmuth - 7 PM
Suttons Bay vs. Brethren - 7 PM
Maple City Glen Lake vs. Boyne City - 7 PM
Charlevoix vs. Frankfort - 7 PM
Mayville vs. Burton Atherton - 7 PM
Romulus Summit Academy North vs. Detroit Edison Public School Academy - 7 PM
Livonia Clarenceville vs. Grass Lake - 7 PM
Cadillac vs. Alpena - 7 PM
St. Joseph vs. Kalamazoo Central - 7 PM
Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills vs. South Christian - 7 PM
New Lothrop vs. Mt Morris - 7 PM
Negaunee vs. Manistique - 7 PM
Saturday - Sept. 19
Traverse City St. Francis vs. Sault Area - 1 PM
Warren De La Salle Collegiate vs. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice - 3 PM
Now in its 12th 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 $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. A portion of every subscription sold by an SBP 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.
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.)