![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/24_MHSAATVSig3.jpg)
Watch Regionals and Semis on MHSAA.tv
June 1, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
MHSAA.tv will carry Regional Semifinal action in girls soccer and Semifinal action in girls lacrosse this week, in addition to Saturday's Finals in Boys and Girls Lacrosse.
On Wednesday, girls soccer coverage comes from Williamston and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern by School Broadcast Program members Montrose and Cedar Springs High Schools. At Williamston, Jackson Lumen Christi plays Leslie at 5 p.m., and Lake Fenton goes against Flint Powers Catholic at 7 p.m. At Forest Hills Northern, Grand Rapids Northview faces DeWitt at 5 p.m., and the second game has Spring Lake vs. Midland Dow at 7 p.m.
Girls lacrosse coverage of the Division 2 Semifinals at Okemos High School will be provided by SBP member Haslett High School. Those games have Farmington Hills Mercy against Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood at 5 p.m. and Okemos taking on East Grand Rapids at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the Boys and Girls Lacrosse Finals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv. The Boys Finals will have the Division 1 game at 2 p.m. followed by Division 2 at 4:30 p.m. The Girls Finals at Rockford begin at 2 p.m. with the Division 2 contest, followed by Division 1 at 4:30 p.m.
The NFHS Network is offering a special All-Access Pass for $9.95 for this week's action, plus next week's coverage of the Baseball-Softball Semifinals and Finals and the Lower Peninsula Girls Soccer Finals.
Also, audio of all four Boys and Girls Lacrosse Finals will be available free of charge at MHSAANetwork.com.
![Montrose SBP](/sites/default/files/2021-12/211207_fieldtrip_2H.jpg)
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.)