By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director

MHSAA members participating in its School Broadcast Program have two opportunities to receive recognition for their efforts and learn more about the world sports broadcasting.

Last week, the formal “Call for Entries” took place for the MHSAA’s Second Annual SBP Excellence Awards. This program, in partnership with Herff Jones, allows SBP schools to submit their work in five categories – Single Camera and Multi Camera Production of athletic events, Best Use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software, Best Produced Commercials/Features and Best Student Play-by-Play Announcing. A Program of the Year Award also will be presented.

Entries will be accepted until 4 p.m. Feb. 20, with winners announced in April. Complete rules and entry information can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.

SBP participants also have the opportunity to attend the NFHS Network’s inaugural Broadcast Academy, July 17-19 in Atlanta, Ga. The Academy is designed for student broadcasters to hear from successful sports broadcasters from major networks, develop skills through hands-on broadcast training sessions and be recognized for their accomplishments during the first annual NFHS Network Broadcast Academy Awards ceremony. Academy attendees also will attend an Atlanta Braves game and be able to share best practices and experiences with other student broadcasters from schools across the country.

The NFHS Network also will present awards to SBP schools from across the county in multiple categories, including Best Overall Program, Best Live Sports Broadcast, Best Student Broadcaster and Best Teacher of the Year. The application deadline for the awards program is Feb. 15. Click for more information about the NFHS Network Broadcast Academy. 

The MHSAA also will be providing SBP participants with two more “Field Trips” during the Girls and Boys Basketball Semifinals in March, where students will get a behind-the-scenes look at broadcast operations at those events, be able to create their own content at the games and visit with broadcast professionals about careers in sports broadcasting. The field trips are run in cooperation with the Student Broadcast Foundation and Herff Jones. More information will be available soon on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.

This week’s live SBP-produced events on MHSAA.tv again will feature a hockey showdown, as the top-ranked teams in Division 1 and Division 3 respectively – Detroit Catholic Central and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood – face off Friday (Jan. 30) at 7:15 p.m.  A great nonconference boys basketball matchup in the week ahead will have Stevensville Lakeshore, the top team in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West, at Dowagiac, the second place squad in the Wolverine Conference West, on Tuesday (Feb. 3).

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.

Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover varsity competition this week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv  (as of Jan. 26). The following events will have live streaming video unless otherwise indicated:

Wednesday, January 28
Wrestling – Triangular with Belding & Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at Comstock Park, 6 p.m.

Thursday, January 29
Boys Swimming – DeWitt at Haslett, 6 p.m.

Friday, January 30
Boys Basketball – Saginaw Arthur Hill at Mt. Pleasant, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Johannesburg-Lewiston at Mancelona, 7 p.m.
Boys basketball – Coloma at Dowagiac, 7 p.m.
Ice Hockey – Detroit Catholic Central at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 7:15 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Standish-Sterling at Pinconning, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, February 2
Girls Basketball – Hancock at Calumet, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, February 3
Boys Basketball – Elk Rapids at Mancelona, 6:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Saginaw Heritage at Mt. Pleasant, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Okemos at Haslett, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Lake Fenton at Montrose, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Stevensville Lakeshore at Dowagiac, 7:15 p.m. 

Also available this week is an SBP highlights package from the past week (see bottom of this screen) which includes a 2-2 ice hockey tie between Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood and Detroit U-D Jesuit; plus Goodrich scoring a 55-43 victory in girls basketball at Haslett in a clash of top-10 teams in Class B.

Live stats of select basketball games also are available on MHSAA.tv. Check out the MHSAA.tv website on game nights to see which schools are streaming live stats, or stop by to view stats following games on an On Demand basis. A Day Pass to view live stats is $1.95. All sporting events – live or delayed - are available on MHSAA.tv on a subscription basis for their first 72 hours online. A portion of each subscription is returned to school originating the broadcast. Video subscriptions run $9.95 for a Day Pass and $14.95 for a Month Pass. Some schools also are offering Annual Passes at a discounted rate. All sporting events become available for free On Demand viewing three days after they have been posted.  

To view all of the recent School Broadcast Program productions, go to MHSAA.tv, click On Demand on the nav bar of the left side of the page, and on the Filters tab at the top of next page, click on All States and then select Michigan.  

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.