Live Events Abound on MHSAA TV
November 18, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications diretor
More than 100 hours of live streaming video and audio coverage of MHSAA Tournaments in three sports will take place this weekend on MHSAA.TV, FoxSportsDetroit.com and MHSAANetwork.com.
The weekend centers on MHSAA.tv wrapping up its Fall coverage this weekend with live video streaming of all of the Semifinals and Finals in Girls Volleyball, the Final Round of L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving and 12 Semifinal games in the MHSAA Football Playoffs, presented by the Michigan Army National Guard. All games will be shown live on a subscription basis, and will become available for free on-demand viewing by Nov. 24.
The 8-Player Football Final on Friday between Battle Creek St. Philip and Powers North Central will be streamed live on the FoxSportsDetroit.com website, and be shown on FOX Sports Detroit next week on Monday (Nov. 23) at 2 p.m. and Tuesday (Nov. 24) at 7:30 p.m. It's also the last week of the PrepZone, with four 11-Player Football Semifinal games being streamed live. All games will be archived at MHSAA.tv.
The MHSAANetwork.com website will carry live audio of all Volleyball Semifinal and Final matches Thursday through Saturday (Nov. 19-21), as well as the 8-Player Football Final.
Here is this week's video streaming schedule (all events live online):
Thursday - Girls Volleyball Semifinals - MHSAA.tv
- Battle Creek St. Philip v. Plymouth Christian, Class D, 2 p.m.
- Leland v. Crystal Falls Forest Park, Class D, 3:45 p.m.
- Livonia Churchill v. Romeo, Class A, 5:30 p.m.
- Novi v. Grand Rapids Christian winner, Class A, 7:15 p.m.
Friday - Girls Volleyball Semifinals - MHSAA.tv
- Bronson v. Traverse City St. Francis, Class C, 2 p.m.
- Brown City v. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, Class C, 3:45 p.m.
- Goodrich v. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, Class B, 5:30 p.m.
- North Branch winner v. Battle Creek Harper Creek, Class B, 7:15 p.m.
Friday - 8-Player Football Finals - FoxSportsDetroit.com
- Battle Creek St. Philip v. Powers North Central, 7 p.m. Delayed cable broadcast on FOX Sports Detroit, Monday, 2 p.m., and Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Archived at MHSAA.tv.
Saturday - Girls Volleyball Finals - MHSAA.tv
- Class D Final, 10 a.m.
- Class C Final, Noon
- Class A Final, 2 p.m.
- Class B Final, 4 p.m.
Saturday - L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving Finals - MHSAA.tv - Noon
- Division 1 – Holland Aquatics Center
- Division 2 – Oakland University
- Division 3 – Eastern Michigan University
Saturday - 11-Player Football Semifinals – Prep Zone on FoxSportsDetroit.com – 1 p.m.
- Lowell v. Walled Lake Western, Division 2
- Coldwater v. Chelsea, Division 3
- Ida v. River Rouge, Division 5
- Pewamo-Westphalia v. Detroit Loyola, Division 7
Saturday - 11-Player Football Semifinals on MHSAA.tv - All games 1 p.m. unless noted
- Grand Ledge v. Romeo, Division 1
- Canton v. Detroit Cass Tech, Division 1
- Livonia Franklin v. Detroit Martin Luther King, Division 2
- East Grand Rapids v. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Division 3
- Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern v. Zeeland West, Division 4
- Detroit Country Day v. Flint Powers Catholic, Division 4
- Lansing Catholic v. Grand Rapids West Catholic, Division 5
- Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian v. Clinton, Division 6 - Noon
- Traverse City St. Francis v. Ithaca, Division 6
- Ishpeming v. New Lothrop, Division 7
- St. Ignace v. Muskegon Catholic Central, Division 8
- Waterford Our Lady v. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, Division 8
To watch the live action on MHSAA.tv, you can purchase a Day Pass for $9.95 or a Month Pass for $14.95. The games will become available for free On Demand viewing three days after they are played.
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.)