SBP Excellence Awards Accepting Entries

January 17, 2018

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties  

Applications are being accepted for the MHSAA’s fifth annual SBP Excellence Awards, which recognize the efforts of member schools participating in the School Broadcast Program for content produced during the 2017-18 school year.

SBP schools can submit up to two entries in each of six categories: best single-camera production, best multi-camera production, best use of graphics, best produced local commercials/features, best student play-by-play announcers and best highlight clip.

The SBP Excellence Awards will be used in selecting the Program of the Year. Other criteria for Program of the Year include quantity and quality of productions and sports covered, best command of graphics software, initiative to cover home and away athletic contests and initiative/creative in selling local advertising and subscriptions.

Montrose High School has won the Program of the Year award the past four years.

More details about the 2017-18 SBP Excellence Awards, and an online entry form, can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website. (For more details, CLICK HERE; to go to the entry form, CLICK HERE)

The deadline for submitting entries is Feb. 16, 2018, at 4 p.m.

More than 90 live sporting events are scheduled on MHSAA.tv this week, produced by SBP participants. A total of 55 games at the varsity level will be covered, with more to be added as the week progresses. 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 – the NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution - is used by schools that wish to live stream games but lack the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions
 
Here’s this w
eek’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members:

Tuesday - January 16

Wednesday - January 17

Thursday, January 18

Friday – January 19

Saturday – January 20

Monday – January 21

Tuesday – January 22

Wednesday – January 24

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.

With the winter sports season fully underway, StateChamps! High School Sports Show returns with new weekly editions debuting each Sunday at 9 a.m. on Fox Sports Detroit – featuring fresh editions of the MHSAA Minute.

The MHSAA Minute takes a look each week at different things happening in the life of the Association, from promoting educational programs to rules changes in high school sports. This week’s Minute promotes the upcoming Women In Sports Leadership Conference. Archived editions of MHSAA Minute can be found on the StateChamps! YouTube Channel.

Montrose Earns SBP Awards 5-Peat

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus

May 11, 2018

Make it five in row for Montrose High School, which again claimed the top spot as the “Program of the Year” in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards for 2017-18.

The SBP Excellence Awards will award certificates and plaques to the schools which took individual honors, with the presentation dates and times to be announced.

Montrose took first place in every category: Best Highlight, Best Multicamera Production, Best Student Play-by-Play, Best Produced Commercial/Feature, Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Sports Graphics and Best Use of PlayOn! Sports Graphics. It also placed a second entry in five of the six categories.

Montrose continued to demonstrate good blend of productions in a variety of sports covered and an overall command of the PlayOn! Sports software used for graphics and inserting commercials/features during the course of productions.

Other criteria used in selecting the top program awards were sporting events produced and live page views for those events. The events category was dominated by schools using Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated coverage solution, but still topped by a traditional SBP member. Comstock Park has produced 89 events to date this year, followed by three Pixellot schools – Freeland (76), Plainwell (76) and Macomb Lutheran North (71). 

For live page views, the top four schools were Dollar Bay, Lake Orion, Norway and Calumet. Dollar Bay and Norway are dedicated Pixellot schools, while Calumet produces games with traditional crews and Pixellot.

Here is the complete list by categories of the schools and students being honored in this year’s SBP Excellence Awards:

Best Highlight

First Place – Montrose - Eric Vandefifer, David Sackrider, Peyton Hobson, Tanner Sims – Football game v. Birch Run.

Second Place – Negaunee - Thomas Bagley, Chaz Bluse, Alec Johnson – Gymnastics meet v. Super Seven co-op.

Third Place – Montrose - Danny Sackrider, Steven Folsom, Taylor Burke Pennington, Randall Smith – Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.

Best Multicamera Production

First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer, John Blackford, Kenzie Bishop – MHSAA District Wrestling Finals.

Second Place – Lake Orion – WDBC Staff – Boys Basketball game v. Oxford.

Third Place – Lake Orion – WDBC Staff – Boys Basketball game v. Rochester.

Best Student Play-By-Play

First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer and David Sackrider – Football game v. Birch Run.

Second Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer and David Sackrider – JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.

Third Place – Lake Orion – Ben Wellman and Ted Hirschfield – Boys Basketball game v. Rochester.

Best Produced Commercial/Feature

First Place – Montrose – Jared Adams, Maddie Pyrc, John Blackford – Conlee Oil Company Commercial.

Second Place – Montrose – Jared Adams, Molly Dunton, David Sackrider – Hamilton’s RV Commercial.

Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Graphics

First Place - Montrose – David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington – Football game v. Birch Run.

Second Place – Negaunee – Colton Yesney, Carter Richardson, Robby Williams, Peyton Anderson – Girls Volleyball match v. Gwinn.

Third Place – Montrose - David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington - JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.

Best Use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software

First Place - Montrose – David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington – Football Game v. Birch Run.

Second Place – Lake Orion - Ben Wellman, Isabella Larsen, Micah Williams, Samuel Jenkins – Boys Basketball game v. Clarkston.

Third Place – Montrose - David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson,Taylor Burke-Pennington - JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.

Montrose also was honored this spring by the NFHS Network with the Best Live Sports Broadcast of the 2017-18 school year. Its production of a regular-season football game with Birch Run, won by Montrose in overtime, took top honors.

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. 

The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.  

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

PHOTOS: (Top) Montrose’s Eric Vandefifer interviews three of his school’s wrestlers who qualified for the MHSAA Individual Finals, during a basketball telecast in March. (Middle) Montrose SBP students take in Tigers Student Media Day this spring.