Montrose Junior Named NFHS Network's Best
By
John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus
April 26, 2017
Eric Vandefifer, a junior at Montrose High School, was named today the Best Student Broadcaster nationally in the NFHS Network School Broadcast Program Awards.
For the second straight year, James Kitts, the coordinator of the School Broadcast Program at Montrose, was a finalist in the Teacher of the Year category.
Just last week, Montrose was named the “Program of the Year” in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards for 2016-17, claiming the top honor for the fourth straight year. Montrose took first place in four categories.
Vandefifer also was honored recently by the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association as the top Student Broadcaster in Division 3. Vandefifer and his broadcast partner David Sackrider placed second in the Play-By-Play Category in the MHSAA SBP awards and first in the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Sports Announcing Team category this year.
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.
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.
Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of live video streams being produced by SBP members (All times Eastern):
Wednesday, April 26
- JV Softball – Onaway at Rogers City, 4 p.m.
- JV Softball – Onaway at Rogers City, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 27
- Girls Soccer – Lake Fenton at Montrose, 4 p.m.
- Baseball – Rudyard at Rogers City, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Lake Linden-Hubbell at Calumet, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Troy Athens at Lake Orion, 4:30 p.m.
- Baseball – Rudyard at Rogers City, 5:30 p.m.
- Softball – Lake Linden-Hubbell at Calumet, 6 p.m.
- Boys Lacrosse – Holt at East Lansing, 7 p.m. (On Demand)
Monday, May 1
- Baseball – Mt. Morris at Montrose, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Baraga at Calumet, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Baraga at Calumet, 6 p.m.
- Girls Soccer – Clarkston at Lake Orion, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 2
- Baseball – L’Anse at Calumet, 4 p.m.
- JV Softball – Oscoda at Rogers City, 4 p.m.
- JV Softball – Oscoda at Rogers City, 5:30 p.m.
- Baseball – L’Anse at Calumet, 6 p.m.
- Girls Soccer – Montrose at Corunna, 7 p.m.
Be sure to check the Upcoming Events page at MHSAA.tv for schedule additions every day.
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. 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.
PHOTO: Montrose's Eric Vandefifer (left) and Conner Pyrc call an MHSAA Girls Soccer Semifinal last season for the NFHS Network. (Photo courtesy of Montrose High School digital media.)
MHSAA.tv Schedule Includes Boys Soccer Matchups with League Title, District Seeding Implications
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
September 28, 2021
With the boys soccer season drawing to a close over the next two weeks, MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network will feature a number of matchups in that sport that will impact league championship races and possibly the seeding of the top two teams in each District, the latter to be announced Sunday (Oct. 3).
A pair of games appearing on MHSAA.tv this week will have significant impacts on the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference title race. On Tuesday (Sept. 28), league leader St. Joseph (11-0-2) hosts Stevensville Lakeshore (4-4-2), and on Thursday (Sept. 30) second place Richland Gull Lake (13-1) hosts tied-for-third Portage Northern (7-4-3). Also Tuesday, Ottawa-Kent Conference White leader Grand Rapids Christian (9-4-1) takes on East Grand Rapids (6-2-5) in a matchup of the only two teams undefeated in league play, and Oakland Activities Association Red co-leader Troy (10-0-3) faces third place Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (9-3-3).
The majority of regular-season games will be played by the end of next week, with District play to begin Oct. 13. Seeding of the top two teams in each District bracket – determined by Michigan Power Rating (MPR) – will be determined from results through Saturday (Oct. 2) and announced Sunday (Oct. 3) on the MHSAA Website.
Week 6 of the football regular season again will see more than 150 games broadcast on MHSAA.tv, in addition to the weekly live streams by MHSAA media partners Bally Sports Detroit and State Champs Sports Network. On Friday, Bally will travel to East Grand Rapids for its annual rivalry matchup with Lowell; game time is 7 p.m. with the broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit PLUS, online and on the BSD app. On Saturday, State Champs will stream live the 1 p.m. matchup of Madison Heights Madison at Warren Fitzgerald.
See below for links to a number of notable events on the Network this week:
FOOTBALL
Oct. 1, 6 p.m.: Clare at Marquette
Oct. 1, 6:45 p.m.: Paw Paw at Edwardsburg
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Clarkston at West Bloomfield
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Sterling Heights Stevenson at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Grosse Pointe South at Macomb Dakota
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Climax-Scotts at Adrian Lenawee Christian
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Detroit Catholic Central at Warren De La Salle Collegiate
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Cadillac at Traverse City Central
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Centreville at Cassopolis
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: St. Joseph at Portage Central
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.: Central Montcalm at Reed City
VOLLEYBALL
Sept. 28, 5:30 p.m.: Plymouth Christian Academy at Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
Sept. 28, 7 p.m.: Lake Orion at Clarkston
Sept. 29, 6:30 p.m.: Cadillac at Petoskey
BOYS SOCCER
Sept. 28, 6:30 p.m.: Stevensville Lakeshore at St. Joseph
Sept. 28, 6:45 p.m.: Grand Rapids Christian at East Grand Rapids
Sept. 28, 6:55 p.m.: Troy at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Sept. 30, 6:40 p.m.: Portage Northern at Richland Gull Lake
The MHSAA.tv schedule total includes more than 300 volleyball and more than 100 boys soccer matches this week. Click the links below to see all three sports’ listings in full:
Football – Volleyball – Boys Soccer
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
More than 400 MHSAA member schools are participants in the School Broadcast Program, now in its 13th year, producing games using traditional hands-on student crews or via Pixellot cameras installed at stadiums and gymnasiums across the state. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.