MHSAA TV Returns for 2015-16
September 2, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
A growing number of games can be followed on the MHSAA.tv website as more schools begin to stream their game statistics live using Digital Scout.
Digital Scout enables schools to enter statistics while a game is in progress on mobile devices – such as phones and tablets – and fans can follow along on their own handhelds or on laptops or desktop computers with a subscription to the NFHS Network. The software is free for schools to use and available for football, basketball and volleyball.
Live stats were available for more than 40 football games during opening weekend, and one game had both live stats and video from a school participating in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program. A number of volleyball matches also were available.
In its seventh 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.
All sporting events – live or delayed - are available on a subscription basis only for their first 72 hours online. They become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.
Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to stream competition this week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv (As of Aug. 31):
- Wyoming at Comstock Park – Football – Thursday – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- East Kentwood at East Lansing – Football – Thursday – 7 p.m. – On-Demand Following Game
- Goodrich at Flint Kearsley – Football – Thursday – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Blanchard Montabella at Pinconning – Football – Thursday - 7 p.m. – On-Demand Following Game
- Holt at Rockford – Football – Thursday – 7 p.m. – LIVE
Several schools joined the School Broadcast Program over the summer – all members of the Detroit Catholic High School League, Flint Kearsley, Holly, Livonia Stevenson, Marquette, and Midland Dow – bringing the total number of members to 63. Of this group, Flint Kearsley will be live streaming its first event Thursday. More SBP programming is expected once students hit the classroom for the new year next week. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.
Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.
In its second week of the season, at midnight, is MHSAA Football Friday Overtime on FOX Sports Detroit. Mickey York and Rob Rubick host the weekly 30-minute highlights show. The show will re-air most Saturday and Sunday mornings – and will be archived on the FOX Detroit Website. This week, FFOT will re-air at 8:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., and 11:30 p.m. on Saturday; and at 8 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday on FOX Sports Detroit. The show also will re-air on Saturday at 7 p.m. on FOX Sports Detroit-PLUS.
The following games are scheduled to be highlighted this week on Football Friday Overtime:
- Caro at Millington
- Frankenmuth at Birch Run
- Monroe Jefferson at Grosse Ile
- Carleton Airport at New Boston Huron
- Detroit Mumford at Detroit Denby
- Oxford at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Below are MHSAA-produced highlights from NFHS Network games from last week, including moments from the Walled Lake Western/Lowell and Rogers City/AuGres-Sims football games and East Lansing/Petoskey boys soccer game.
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.)