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.)
Weekly Highlights Return to MHSAA TV
August 30, 2016
By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
A weekly staple on the MHSAA.tv website and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube returns this week with highlights of selected games produced last week by members of the Association’s School Broadcast Program.
This week’s highlights package consists of clips from football games between Traverse City West and Midland and Marquette vs. Traverse City St. Francis, and a boys soccer match between Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and East Lansing.
Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members, as well as live stats from MHSAA member schools using Digital Scout:
Tuesday (Aug. 30)
- Girls Volleyball – Auburn Hills Avondale at Lake Orion, 5 p.m. - LIVE
Thursday (Sept. 1)
- Boys Soccer – Williamston at East Lansing, 6:30 p.m. (On Demand)
- Football – Negaunee at Calumet, 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Football – Rochester Hills Stoney Creek at Lake Orion, 7 p.m. – LIVE VIDEO & STATS
- Football – Marquette at Traverse City Central, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Ewen-Trout Creek at Stephenson, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Detroit University Prep at Adrian Lenawee Christian, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Flint Carman-Ainsworth at Saginaw Arthur Hill, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – DeWitt at Grand Ledge, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Greenville at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – North Muskegon at Whitehall, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Manchester at Addison, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Hanover Horton at Michigan Center, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Sanford Meridian at Lake City, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Howard City Tri-County at Stanton Central Montcalm, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Lake Odessa Lakewood at Belding, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Otsego at Sturgis, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Jackson Northwest at Battle Creek Harper Creek, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Hemlock at Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Vassar at Brown City, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Flint Powers Catholic at Saginaw Heritage, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Wyoming tri-Unity Christian at Big Rapids Crossroads Academy, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Bay City Western at Midland, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Harbor Springs at Houghton Lake, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Linden at Goodrich, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Lansing Catholic at Lansing Everett, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Charlotte at Fowlerville, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Mt. Morris at Flint Kearsley, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Midland Dow at Bay City Central, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Lansing Eastern at Lansing Waverly, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Unionville-Sebewaing at Marlette, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Benton Harbor at Grand Rapids South Christian, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Britton-Deerfield at Erie-Mason, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Holland West Ottawa at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – New Lothrop at Burton Bentley, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – St. Clair Shores Lake Shore at Marysville, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Walled Lake Central at Plymouth, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Garden City at Romulus, 7 p.m. (Stats)
Friday (Sept. 2)
- Football – Birmingham Brother Rice at Mishawaka Penn, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – West Bloomfield at Oxford, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Warren Woods-Tower at St. Clair, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Davison at Mt. Pleasant, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Monroe St. Mary CC at Riverview, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Muskegon Oakridge at Whitehall, 7 p.m. (Stats)
- Football – Detroit Denby at Detroit Osborn, 4 p.m. (Stats)
The NFHS Network has announced new pricing for 2016-17, eliminating the Day Pass and lowering the cost of a Month Pass to $9.95. 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. Some schools also will be selling Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
Now in its eighth 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. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.