Watch Volleyball, Football LIVE

November 4, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

District and Regional Volleyball action will be featured over the next two weeks on MHSAA.tv, while Football Playoff coverage moves into its second round and will be available live via multiple online channels this weekend.

Coverage of Girls Volleyball includes District Quarterfinal/Semifinal Matches each evening for four straight. Football this weekend can be viewed Friday from Fox Sports Detroit and Saturday from MHSAA.tv.

Volleyball

Here’s the complete District schedule, with links to each game's page on the MHSAA.tv site (all coverage available with subscription):

Monday – Class C Quarterfinals at Hanover-Horton
East Jackson vs. Michigan Center, 5:30 p.m.

Napoleon vs. Vandercook Lake, 7 p.m.

Tuesday – Class C Semifinals at Calumet
Ironwood vs. L’Anse, 6 p.m.
Calumet vs. Hancock, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday – Class B Semifinals at Frankenmuth
Frankenmuth vs. North Branch, 6 p.m.
Caro vs. Mt. Morris, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday – Class A Semifinals at Hudsonville
Jenison vs. Grandville/Holland West Ottawa winner, 5 p.m.
Hudsonville/Holland winner vs. Wyoming/Zeeland East winner, 7 p.m.

Regional Semifinal coverage takes place next Tuesday (Nov. 11) at two locations:

Class A at Mason
Okemos District winner vs. Dexter District winner, 5 p.m.
Holt District winner vs. Portage Central District winner, 7 p.m.

Class C at Morley-Stanwood
Shelby District winner vs. White Cloud District winner, 6 p.m.
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian District winner vs. Pewamo-Westphalia District winner, 8 p.m.

Football

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 this week are:

Division 1 – Lapeer at Clarkston
Division 4 – Saginaw Swan Valley at Lansing Sexton
Division 5 – Clare at Freeland
Division 5 – Almont at Marine City

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

Football Friday Overtime is in its fourth season on FOX Sports Detroit, airing at Midnight each Friday and running for 13 weeks. Mickey York and Rob Rubick host this 30-minute highlights show. The show re-airs Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sunday mornings – check your local listings (this week at 7 a.m.).

The following games are scheduled to be highlighted this week:

  • Wyandotte Roosevelt at Brownstown Woodhaven
  • Trenton at New Boston Huron
  • Southfield at Oak Park
  • Walled Lake Central at West Bloomfield
  • Detroit East English at Warren DeLaSalle
  • Detroit Cass Tech at Dearborn Fordson
  • Plus coverage from the Prep Zone games

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 District Final schedule (all coverage with subscription):

Division 1 – Grand Ledge at East Kentwood, 1 p.m.

Division 7 – Pewamo-Westphalia at Hudson, 1 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 two more weeks of coverage of the Girls Volleyball Tournament, weekly Football Playoff coverage, and the Preliminaries and Finals of the Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals. All events become available for free on demand viewing three days after the date of the contest.

MHSAA Highlights: This week's package includes clips from the Okemos/East Lansing volleyball match and the Plainwell/Battle Creek Harper Creek and Watervliet/Niles Brandywine football games.

Summer Safety

August 28, 2012

As we have been considering changes for in-season football practice rules that are more in step with recent recommendations of the National Athletic Trainers Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Federation of State High School Associations, as well as the actions of several of our counterpart state organizations across the U.S., we have also been looking at the rules that apply out of season to assure they do not work against the preparation of students for a safe experience.

Except during the school’s designated summer dead period of at least seven consecutive days, football coaches may interact with any number of players in voluntary weight training and conditioning sessions as frequently as they desire.  Introduce footballs and helmets, and the coach can still work with any number of students on the sideline and up to seven players at a time for any number of days.  Add competition, and the coach can still work with up to seven players at a time for a maximum of seven days.  In addition, football coaches may participate for a maximum of ten days at bona fide football camps where any number of their players are participating.

Plenty of time for coaches to teach, and even more time for players to train.  During this time, the rules permit students to wear helmets, which protect against accidental collisions during drills; but the rules prohibit other pads that would allow activities to escalate to the point where contact is expected, leading to increased blows to the head at a time when the objective from the pros to Pop Warner is to reduce blows to the head.

When the brief preseason down time begins Aug. 1, the coach continues to be able to work with any number of players in conditioning and weight training.  The down time prohibits those activities that could be a disguise for practice prior to the earliest allowed practice date – open gyms, camps, clinics and competition.  The down time puts the emphasis where it’s most needed for a healthy student experience when practice actually begins:  that’s weight training and conditioning.

Some critics may focus on what they can’t do in the summer; but clearly, there’s much they can do, and it’s all designed to help players improve and excel in a safe environment.