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NFHS Network Rooted in Our Back Yards

August 28, 2014

By Jack Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director

Throughout my nearly 28-year tenure with the MHSAA, I have been a consistent and outspoken critic of our national organization, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), whenever it attempted an initiative that I saw purposed more for its own promotion than as a needed service for its member associations and their member schools.

When its strategy for service was to promote a “national presence” for the NFHS, I objected. I have never felt that national tournaments or national telecasts would be of the slightest benefit to 99 percent of the MHSAA’s member schools; and worse, I have always believed that those initiatives would tend to corrupt the one percent involved.

So it may have come as a surprise to some of my colleagues in this state and my counterparts across the country when I became an early advocate of the NFHS Network and now serve as the network’s first president.

The definitive difference between the NFHS Network and earlier talk of national tournaments and telecasts is that the network’s thrust is local, not national. In fact, it’s hyper-local.

The heart of the NFHS Network consists of the season-ending tournaments of statewide high school associations across the U.S. The NFHS Network produced Internet broadcasts of at least the culminating contests for most of the sports sponsored by most of the three dozen state associations contributing content during 2013-14, the network’s first year of operation.

While state high school associations provide an immense potential for content, there are only 51 member associations of the NFHS, in contrast to the coast-to-coast pool of nearly 20,000 member high schools these associations serve. It is this local content through the School Broadcasting Program that gives the network its legs. The aggregation of all this content is the magnet to draw media partners, sponsors and subscribers; and it is this local emphasis that attracted my support of the concept, and now my service to the network board of directors.

School sports is first, last and always about local teams. And it’s not just high-profile sports and varsity teams; it’s just as much about lower profile programs and subvarsity events.

There are more school-sponsored football games in Michigan during one week than there are NFL games across the U.S. all season long. There are more school-sponsored basketball games in Michigan during one week than there are NBA games across the U.S. all season. And we serve two dozen other sports as well.

Together, the MHSAA and the SBP can provide enough live and on-demand Internet programming to provide MHSAA.tv with authentic high school sports broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days each year. And those who subscribe to Internet broadcasts on MHSAA.tv have access to content from the local school and state association level from coast to coast and border to border.

The success of the NFHS Network will not be “made-for-TV” national-scope tournaments or matchups between teams with the most highly recruited players. Our success will come from the aggregation of thousands of typical local rivalries that are played all school year long in every nook of this state and every cranny of our nation.

At least while I’m involved, the NFHS Network will be true to the mission of school-based sports and uplift the values for which educational athletics have always stood.

For years, school sports have stood apart from non-school sports as the preferred brand of youth sports because we offered letter jackets, pep assemblies, pep bands, marching bands, cheerleaders and homecomings. Going forward, school sports will also stand apart from other youth sports because of the NFHS Network.

Playoffs Coming to MHSAA.tv, Fox

October 29, 2014

A big month of live streaming video from MHSAA Tournaments gets underway this week, with the return of the PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com and MHSAA.tv broadcasts of Finals in two sports, plus its own Football Playoff coverage.

It’s the fourth season for the popular PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com, which will provide free live coverage of four Football Playoff games each week for the first four weekends of the tournament.

Games to be covered Friday are:

  • Division 2 – Warren DeLaSalle at Grosse Pointe North
  • Division 4 – Grosse Ile at Chelsea
  • Division 4 – Kalamazoo United (Hackett, Christian, Heritage Christian) at Eaton Rapids
  • Division 6 – Hillsdale at Hanover-Horton

All games will take place Friday at 7 p.m., with short-term archives available on FoxSportsDetroit.com and long-term on-demand viewing on MHSAA.tv.

Boys Soccer coverage on MHSAA.tv begins Wednesday with three live Semifinal games, and wraps up on Saturday with live coverage from Finals sites at Brighton and East Kentwood.  Here’s the full schedule (all coverage by subscription):

Semifinals – Wednesday

  • Finals – Saturday
  • Noon – 2 Finals games (Sites and Divisions TBA after Semifinals)
  • 3 p.m. – 2 Finals games (Sites and Divisions TBA after Semifinals)

Live streaming of the Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals takes place Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Planned coverage on MHSAA.tv includes a leader cam, split cams at one and two miles and a camera at the top of the MIS press center covering the finish of race. Commentary will come from a team of reporters around the course.  

Here’s the complete schedule (all coverage by subscription unless noted):

  • 9:55 a.m. – On Air – Morning Session
  • 10 a.m. – Division 4 Boys
  • 10:30 a.m. – Division 3 Boys
  • 11 a.m. – Division 4 Girls
  • 11:30 a.m. – Division 2 Girls
  • 12:15 p.m. – Division 3 & 4 Awards (Free video stream)
  • 1:25 p.m. – On Air – Afternoon Session
  • 1:30 p.m. – Division 2 Boys
  • 2 p.m. – Division 1 Boys
  • 2:30 p.m. – Division 2 Girls
  • 3 p.m. – Division 1 Girls
  • 3:45 p.m. – Division 1 & 2 Awards (Free video stream)

MHSAA.tv also will cover two Football Playoff games live each Saturday the first three weeks of the tournament and 12 Semifinal games on Nov. 22. Here’s this week’s schedule (all coverage by subscription):

Coverage of the Girls Volleyball Tournament begins next week, with two District Semifinal Matches each night for four straight nights.  Here’s the complete schedule (all coverage by subscription):

Nov. 3 – Class C at Hanover-Horton

  • Concord v. Jackson Lumen Christi, 5:30 p.m.
  • Napoleon v. Vandercook Lake, 7 p.m.

Nov. 4 – Class C at Calumet

  • Ironwood v. L’Anse, 6 p.m.
  • Calumet v. Hancock, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 – Class B at Frankenmuth

  • Frankenmuth v. Otisville-Lakeville/North Branch winner, 6 p.m.
  • Caro v. Flint Northwestern/Mt. Morris winner, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 6 – Class A at Hudsonville

  • Jenison v. Grandville/Holland West Ottawa winner, 5 p.m.
  • Hudsonville/Holland winner v. Wyoming/Zeeland East winner, 7 p.m.

A Day Pass subscription to MHSAA.tv is $9.95. A Month Pass subscription is $14.95, enabling purchasers to watch all of this week’s action plus three weeks of coverage of the Girls Volleyball Tournament, weekly Football Playoff coverage and the Preliminaries and Finals of the Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Tournament. All events become available for free on demand viewing three days after the date of the contest. 

Radio: The MHSAA Internet Broadcast Network – MHSAANetwork.com – kicks off its Fall audio coverage with the Boys Soccer Finals on Saturday. During the month of November, the MHSAA Network will also provide live free audio of the 8-Player and 11-Player Football Finals and the Semifinals and Finals of the Girls Volleyball Tournament.

School Broadcast Program: A number of events broadcast last week are available on-demand on MHSAA.tv:

Soccer Regionals

  • Bay City Western vs. East Lansing
  • Madison Heights Lamphere vs. Ortonville-Brandon
  • Kalamazoo Hackett vs. St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic
  • Marysville vs. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood
  • Spring Lake vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
  • Grand Rapids Covenant Christian vs. Kalamazoo Heritage Christian
  • Grand Haven vs. Saline
  • Elk Rapids vs. Grant
  • Ludington vs. Tawas
  • Okemos vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
  • Spring Lake vs. East Lansing

Volleyball

  • Montrose vs. Genesee
  • Central Montcalm vs. Big Rapids
  • Calumet vs. Houghton
  • Posen vs. Mio
  • Montrose vs. Saginaw Arts & Sciences
  • Calumet vs. Lake Linden-Hubbell

Football

  • Hillman vs. Hale
  • Negaunee vs. Ishpeming Westwood
  • Whittemore-Prescott vs. Reese
  • Stanton Central Montcalm vs. Lakeview
  • Rockford vs. Holland West Ottawa
  • Pinconning vs. Midland Bullock Creek
  • Comstock Park vs. Sparta
  • Posen vs. Owendale-Gagetown
  • Watervliet vs. Lawton
  • Cedar Springs vs. Ada Forest Hills Eastern

MHSAA Highlights: This week's package includes clips from the Spring Lake/East Lansing soccer and the Midland Bullock Creek/Pinconning and Ishpeming Westwood/Negaunee football games.