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O-K Crossover Top MHSAA TV Coverage

September 20, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director

A crossover game in the Ottawa-Kent Conference headlines this week’s schedule of live events on MHSAA.tv being produced by members of the School Broadcast Program.

Cedar Springs (2-0 O-K White, 3-1 overall) hosts Grand Rapids Christian (2-0 O-K Gold, 4-0 overall) at 7 p.m. Friday. 

In its eighth 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 this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams available being produced by SBP members, as well as live stats from MHSAA member schools using Digital Scout:

Tuesday – Sept. 20

Wednesday – Sept. 21

Thursday – Sept. 22

Friday – Sept. 23

  • Football – Coleman at Breckenridge – 6:30 p.m. - LIVE
  • Football – Traverse City West at Alpena – 7 p.m. – LIVE
  • Football – Oscoda at Rogers City – 7 p.m. – LIVE
  • Football – Charlton Heston Academy at Onaway – 7 p.m. – LIVE
  • Football – Mt. Morris at Goodrich – 7 p.m. – LIVE VIDEO & STATS
  • Football – Grand Rapids Christian at Cedar Springs – 7 p.m. - LIVE
  • Football – Marquette v. Gladstone – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Plymouth v. Canton – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Oxford v. Farmington – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Eben Junction Superior Central v. Stephenson – 7 p.m. - STATS
  • Football – Beaverton v. Sanford Meridian – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Davison v. Saginaw – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – St. Clair v. St. Clair Shores South Lake – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Hudsonville v. Holland West Ottawa – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Grand Ledge v. Jackson – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – East Jackson v. Manchester – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Fowlerville v. Lansing Catholic – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Oakland Christian v. Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Addison v. Michigan Center – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Swartz Creek v. Flint Kearsley – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Saranac v. Bath – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – St. Johns v. Lansing Waverly – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Erie-Mason v. Hudson – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Calumet v. Hancock – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Lowell v. Greenville – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Corunna v. Flint Beecher – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Gwinn v. Negaunee – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Wyoming Lee v. Belding – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Bay City Central v. Midland – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – New Lothrop v. Belding – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Hanover-Horton v. Napoleon – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Grand Rapids West Catholic v. Coopersville – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Grand Traverse Academy v. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Traverse City Central v. Gaylord – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Saginaw Arthur Hill v. Saginaw Heritage – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Midland Dow v. Flint Powers – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary v. Hemlock – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central v. Grosse Ile – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Grosse Pointe South v. Grosse Pointe North – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Laingsburg v. Fowler – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Sparta v. Allendale – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy v. Adrian Lenawee Christian – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Stanton Central Montcalm v. Fremont – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Battle Creek Harper Creek v. Battle Creek Pennfield – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Marlette v. Ubly – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Lansing Everett v. Lansing Eastern – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Whitehall v. Montague – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Wayland Union v. Grand Rapids South Christian – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Petersburg-Summerfield v. Britton-Macon – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Mayville v. Morrice – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – St. Clair Shores Lake Shore v. St. Clair Shores Lakeview – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Baraga v. Powers North Central – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Wyoming Kelloggsville v. Grandville Calvin Christian – 7 p.m. – STATS
  • Football – Adrian v. Ypsilanti – 7 p.m. – STATS

Saturday – Sept. 24

The NFHS Network has announced new pricing for 2016-17, eliminating the Day Pass and lowering the cost of a Month Pass to $9.95. 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. Some schools also will be selling Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.

The SBP programming schedule is expected to expand now that school is in session across the state.  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. 

A weekly staple on the MHSAA.tv website and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube is back for another year with highlights of selected games last week produced by members of the Association’s School Broadcast Program. This week's package includes clips from the St. Clair/Clinton Township Clintondale and Traverse City Central/West football games, plus highlights from the Central/West "Patriot Game" festivities.

This week’s highlights package consists of clips from Vicksburg at Plainwell and Flint Southwestern at Davison football and Okemos at East Lansing girls swimming & diving.

Montrose SBP

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 SBP“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.)