EAST LANSING, Mich. – May 28 – LOWER PENINSULA DIVISION 2 AND DIVISION 4 TRACK & FIELD FINALS VIDEO LIVE AT MHSAA.TV – On Saturday (May 30), the MHSAA Network will have its cameras at its Track & Field Finals sites in both peninsulas to produce highlights shows for the MHSAA.tv Website and for its cable television affiliate, Comcast Channel 900 that will be shown during the summer.  From two Lower Peninsula Finals sites – Division 2 at Zeeland and Division 4 at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern – a live video stream will be available on the MHSAA.tv Website with single-camera coverage of all preliminary, semifinal and final running events.  Live coverage begins at about 9:30 a.m. (EDT).  Joe Jason will call the finals races Saturday afternoon at Forest Hills Eastern, and Jack Ebling will do the play-by-play for the finals races at Zeeland. 

MHSAA.tv plans to stream live video at upcoming Finals in Lacrosse on June 6; and Baseball, Softball and Girls Soccer on June 13.  Over 20,000 viewers watched live streams on MHSAA.tv during the winter sports season for the Boys and Girls Basketball Semifinals, and the Ice Hockey Semifinals and Finals; and there were nearly 5,000 viewers in the fall watching coverage of the Girls Volleyball Semifinals and Finals.  The MHSAA.tv Website has over 300 programs from the 2008-09 school year available for On Demand viewing from a variety of regular season events, and all MHSAA Championships except Basketball and Football.

OFFICIALS FOR KIDS UPDATE:  West Michigan Officials Association To Again Participate In Visually Impaired Sports & Activity Day -- Members of the West Michigan Officials Association will be involved in a different set of games on Saturday (June 7), when they again join patients from the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids in a Visually Impaired Sports and Activity Day at Wealthy Elementary School in Grand Rapids.

The event is part of the support the WMOA provides for Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital through the Officials For Kids program a charitable initiative of the Michigan High School Athletic Association in conjunction with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. 

At the inception of the Officials For Kids programs, work was centered on fundraising efforts by local officials associations to improve children’s health care at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals around the state.  The heart of that initiative has been the Give-A-Game program, where members of an officials association donate one night’s game fees towards the cause, increasing awareness for the Officials For Kids program while generating support for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Saturday’s program, which begins around 8:30 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m., will have members of the WMOA engaged with visually-impaired youngsters as they take part in activities such as biking, crafts, goal ball, beep baseball, obstacle course, horse riding, and swimming.  The WMOA’s support also involves the Burn Camp which is attended by children cared for at the Spectrum Health Regional Burn Center at the Spectrum Health Blodgett Campus.

The Officials For Kids Program takes on a local focus at each Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in the state.  In addition to the efforts to benefit Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Officials For Kids launched a program at Beaumont Hospital in Detroit called Referees For Reading, where monies raised help fund a pediatric ward book cart, and officials give of their time to read to children.  At Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Officials For Kids donations will go towards Camp REACH, which fights childhood obesity.  At Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Officials For Kids has been raising money towards the maintenance of its new Pediatric Emergency Room and Waiting Room.

Officials For Kids began in early 2003 as a small group of mid-Michigan officials dedicated to the future of children’s healthcare & the Children’s Miracle Network.  The ultimate hope for the program is that officials personal & association pledges, along with participation in fundraising events & initiatives, will make Officials for Kids a name synonymous with the continued improvement of children’s healthcare across the state.

For more information, visit the Officials For Kids page of the MHSAA Website – www.officialsforkids.com.