Super Streaming Weekend Arrives
November 15, 2017
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
More than 100 hours of live streaming of MHSAA action in four tournaments will take place this weekend on the MHSAA.tv, FoxSportsDetroit.com and MHSAANetwork.com websites and the FOX Sports Detroit Facebook page.
The weekend centers on MHSAA.tv wrapping up its fall coverage with live video streaming of all Semifinals and Finals in Girls Volleyball, the Final round of L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving and 12 Semifinal games in the MHSAA Football Playoffs powered 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. 23.
The 8-Player Football Finals on Saturday (Nov. 18) between Deckerville and Central Lake at 11 a.m. and Crystal Falls Forest Park and Portland St. Patrick at 2 p.m. at Marquette’s Superior Dome will be streamed live on the FOX Sports Detroit Facebook page to kick off Football Week In Michigan, and be shown on FOX Sports Detroit on Tuesday (Nov. 21) with Division 1 at 8 p.m., followed by Division 2 at 11 p.m. It's also the last week of the PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com, 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. 17-19), as well as the 8-Player Football Finals.
Here is this week's video streaming schedule (all events live online):
Thursday - Girls Volleyball Semifinals - MHSAA.tv & MHSAANetwork.com
- Munising v. Fowler, Class D, Noon
- Plymouth Christian v. Rogers City, Class D, 2 p.m.
- Farmington Hills Mercy v. Bloomfield Hills Marian, Class A, 4:30 p.m.
- DeWitt v. Novi, Class A, 6:30 p.m.
Friday - Girls Volleyball Semifinals - MHSAA.TV & MHSAANetwork.com
- Wixom St. Catherine v. Laingsburg, Class C, Noon
- Bronson v. Calumet, Class C, 2 p.m.
- Lake Odessa Lakewood v. Livonia Ladywood, Class B, 4:30 p.m.
- Pontiac Notre Dame v. Fruitport, Class B, 6:30 p.m.
Friday - 11-Player Football Semifinal – Prep Zone on FoxSportsDetroit.com – 7 p.m.
- Iron River West Iron County v. Saginaw Nouvel, Division 8
Saturday - 8-Player Football Finals – FOX Sports Detroit Facebook & MHSAANetwork.com
- Deckerville v. Powers North Central, Division 1, 11 a.m.
- Crystal Falls Forest Park v. Portland St. Patrick, Division 2, 2 p.m. (Approx.)
Delayed cable broadcast on FOX Sports Detroit on Tuesday: Division 1 - 8 p.m., Division 2 – 11 p.m. Archived at MHSAA.tv.
Saturday - Girls Volleyball Finals - MHSAA.TV & MHSAANetwork.com
- 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 – Oakland University
- Division 2 – Holland Aquatics Center
- Division 3 – Eastern Michigan University
Saturday - 11-Player Football Semifinals – Prep Zone on FoxSportsDetroit.com – 1 p.m.
- Detroit Catholic Central v. West Bloomfield, Division 1
- Detroit Martin Luther King v. Warren DeLaSalle, Division 2
- Muskegon v. Battle Creek Harper Creek, Division 3
Saturday - 11-Player Football Semifinals – MHSAA.tv - All games 1 p.m. unless noted
- Detroit Cass Tech v. West Bloomfield, Division 1
- Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central v. Livonia Franklin, Division 2
- Riverview v. Farmington Hills Harrison, Division 3 – Noon
- River Rouge v. Edwardsburg, Division 4
- Escanaba v. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Division 4
- Reed City v. Saginaw Swan Valley, Division 5
- Grand Rapids West Catholic v. Frankenmuth, Division 5
- Traverse City St. Francis v. Ithaca, Division 6
- Jackson Lumen Christi v. Warren Michigan Collegiate, Division 6
- Lake City v. Pewamo-Westphalia, Division 7
- Saugatuck v. Madison Heights Madison, Division 7
- Mendon v. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, Division 8
A subscription to MHSAA.tv is $9.95 and allows 30 days of viewing live content on the NFHS Network.
Highlights of playoff games this weekend will be featured on the State Champs! High School Sports Show on FOX Sports Detroit at 9 a.m. Sunday - with multiple replays on FOX Sports Detroit and Comcast Channel 900 throughout the week. The program is also archived on the State Champs YouTube Channel. Consult your local listings for additional playback times.
The MHSAA also has content on the State Champs Scoreboard! High School Radio Show on Friday nights during the football and basketball seasons, originating on WXYT-FM (97.1) in Detroit and carried on more than 10 radio stations across the state. This Week In High School Sports and Be The Referee are weekly features on the program.
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.)