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Montrose SBP

Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting

By Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

December 7, 2021

DETROIT – An hour before kickoff of the first game of 11-Player Football Finals weekend – the Division 8 championship decider between Hudson and Beal City – Bally Sports Detroit announcers Evan Stockton and Rob Rubick were busy preparing to call the action from the television booth on the third level of Ford Field.

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.

Mount Pleasant SBP“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.)

Unified Basketball On MHSAA TV

January 30, 2018

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties   

The efforts of MHSAA member schools to promote participation opportunities with the Michigan Special Olympics will get live video coverage this week as part of more than 80 events on MHSAA.tv being produced by participants in the School Broadcast Program.

The Kensington Lakes Activities Association is in the midst of several weeks of events where a number of its member schools are conducting Unified Basketball games, including a Tuesday (Jan. 30) contest with Novi hosting Brighton at 5:30 p.m. in a game being covered by Pixellot.

Project Unified puts special education students on the court, participating in concert with their general education peers. Lineups must consist of three unified student athletes and two unified student partners on the floor at all times.

The Unified game is one of several basketball games between Novi and Brighton on Tuesday, beginning at 4 p.m., and culminating with the varsity contest about 7:30 p.m. To help promote the Unified event, all of the games on MHSAA.tv originating from Novi will be free.   

The schedule over the upcoming week also features a potential battle of unbeatens in the Copper Mountain Conference. Next Tuesday (Feb. 6), Ewen-Trout Creek (15-0), the second-ranked team in Class D, will play at sixth-ranked Dollar Bay (10-0). E-TC leads the Porcupine Mountain division, and Dollar Bay sits atop the Copper division. On Saturday (Feb. 3), the KLAA Competitive Cheer Tournament will be streamed live from Novi High School.

Of the 83 games on this week’s schedule, 49 at the varsity level will be covered, with more to be added as the week progresses. Fifty-six of the games will be produced by schools using Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated coverage solution. Be sure to check Upcoming Events on the MHSAA.tv home page daily for last-minute additions.

In its ninth year, 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. Pixellot is used by schools wishing to live stream games, but lacking the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions. 

Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members:

Monday – January 29, 2018

Tuesday - January 30

Wednesday - January 31

Thursday - February 1

Friday - February 2

Saturday - February 3

Monday - February 5

Tuesday - February 6

Wednesday - February 7

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $9.95 a month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on- demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. School Broadcast Program participants will also be selling Season and Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.

A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.

Highlights of games produced in the past week by MHSAA School Broadcast Program members feature the following events:

Highlights can be found each week on the MHSAA.tv website, the home page of the MHSAA Website, and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube.