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.)
Football, Swim, Volleyball Stream LIVE
November 14, 2018
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
It’s the biggest streaming weekend of the Fall sports season on the MHSAA.tv, FoxSportsDetroit.com and MHSAANetwork.com websites and the FOX Sports app.
The weekend centers on MHSAA.tv wrapping up its Fall coverage with live video streaming of all Semifinals and Finals in Girls Volleyball, the championship round of all three Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals and 13 Semifinal games in the 11-Player Football Playoffs – most of which will be produced by members of the School Broadcast Program. All live events are shown on a subscription basis.
The 8-Player Football Finals on Saturday (Nov. 17) at Marquette’s Superior Dome between Pickford and Morrice at 11 a.m. in Division 1 and Rapid River and Onekama at 2 p.m. in Division 2 will be streamed live on the Prep Zone on the FoxSportsDetroit.com website and the FOX Sports app. The games also will be shown on FOX Sports Detroit on Tuesday (Nov. 20), with Division 1 at 8 p.m. followed by Division 2 at 11 p.m.
It's also the last week of the PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com, with three 11-Player Football Semifinal games being streamed live. All games will be archived at MHSAA.tv.
The MHSAANetwork.com website will carry live free audio of all Volleyball Semifinal and Final matches Thursday through Saturday (Nov. 15-17), as well as the 8-Player Football Finals.
Here is this week's video streaming schedule (all events live online):
Thursday - Girls Volleyball Semifinals - MHSAA.tv & MHSAANetwork.com
Division 3
- Unionville-Sebewaing v. Traverse City St. Francis - Noon
- Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central v. Bronson - 2 p.m.
Division 2
- Grand Rapids Christian v. Lake Odessa Lakewood - 4:30 p.m.
- Pontiac Notre Dame Prep v. Corunna - 6:30 p.m.
Friday - Girls Volleyball Semifinals - MHSAA.tv & MHSAANetwork.com
Division 4
- Mendon v. Southfield Christian - Noon
- Leland v. Carney-Nadeau - 2 p.m.
Division 1
- Lake Orion v. Farmington Hills Mercy - 4:30 p.m.
- Northville v. Rockford - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday - 8-Player Football Finals – Prep Zone on FoxSportsDetroit.com & MHSAANetwork.com
- Pickford v. Morrice, Division 1, 11 a.m.
- Rapid River v. Onekama, Division 2, 2 p.m. (Approx.)
- Delayed cable broadcast on FOX Sports Detroit, Tuesday, Division 1 - 8 p.m.; Division 2 – 11 p.m. Archived at MHSAA.tv.
Saturday - Girls Volleyball Finals - MHSAA.tv & MHSAANetwork.com
- Division 4 Final, 10 a.m.
- Division 3 Final, Noon
- Division 1 Final, 2 p.m.
- Division 2 Final, 4 p.m.
Saturday - L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving Finals - MHSAA.tv - Noon
- Division 1 – Eastern Michigan University
- Division 2 – Oakland University
- Division 3 – Holland Aquatics Center
Saturday - 11-Player Football Semifinals – Prep Zone on FoxSportsDetroit.com – 1 p.m.
- Belleville v. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, Division 1
- DeWitt v. Detroit Martin Luther King, Division 3
- Grand Rapids Catholic Central v. Edwardsburg, Division 4
Saturday - 11-Player Football Semifinals on MHSAA.tv - All games 1 p.m.
- Clarkston v. Saline, Division 1
- Midland v. Muskegon Mona Shores, Division 2
- Birmingham Groves v. Warren DeLaSalle, Division 2
- Zeeland East v. Muskegon, Division 3
- Chelsea v. Williamston, Division 4
- Hudsonville Unity Christian v. Saginaw Swan Valley, Division 5
- Marine City v. Portland, Division 5
- Montague v. Traverse City St. Francis, Division 6
- Montrose v. Jackson Lumen Christi, Division 6
- New Lothrop v. Lake City, Division 7
- Cassopolis v. Madison Heights Madison, Division 7
- Breckenridge v. Harbor Beach, Division 8
- Holton v. Reading, Division 8
A subscription to MHSAA.tv is $9.95, and allows 30 days of viewing live content on the NFHS Network. 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.