posted on September 18, 2013 09:54
Contact: John Johnson
517.332.5046 or [email protected]
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Sept. 17 – A fresh series of television and radio public service announcement just released by the Michigan High School Athletic Association promote the continual need for high school game officials, its new PLAY – Preparation Lasts All Year – program, and the value of high school football to schools and communities and its safety record.
The spots were distributed to stations across the state in the past week, and have already been airing on MHSAA programming on FOX Sports Detroit.
“Be A Referee” is the theme of the five television and three radio promotional messages, featuring comments from registered officials in attendance at the Officiate Michigan Day in Grand Rapids on Aug. 10. There are four regional and one general television promos, in which the following officials appeared (click on the link to play the preview):
- Southeast Michigan – Janis Stahr, Competitive Cheer-Swimming, Flat Rock; Long; Joseph, Football-Basketball, Detroit; Geraldine Jackson, Basketball-Cross Country-Track-Volleyball, Detroit.
- West Michigan – Stacey Smith, Competitive Cheer, Caledonia; Michael Rangel, Football, Grand Rapids; Mike Whaley, Football, Portage; David Cammenga, Soccer, Zeeland.
- Tri-Cities – Raymond Kubani, Baseball-Lacrosse, Davison; Scott Strickler, Wrestling, Lapeer; Derek Eager, Basketball-Football, Bay City.
- Mid-Michigan – Alaina Sharp, Gymnastics, Albion; Nathan Gross, Football-Softball-Volleyball, Jackson; Linda Hoover, Softball-Volleyball, Marshall; Shanear Trice, Lansing, Basketball.
The general version of the video spot includes Kubani, Long, Smith and Trice. The audio messages include Blake Hagman, Cross Country-Track, Kalamazoo; Gross, Hoover, Cammenga, Flowers and Stahr. Three more audio spots will be released in the Fall of 2014.
The PLAY messages build on the themes of young people maintaining their fitness levels in the off season which were started during that past summer’s Prep Rally. One video message gets the point across showing a young female playing video games; another by showing a group of kids texting. In addition, there are four audio messages. (Click on the link to preview the video messages)
One of the charges coming out of the MHSAA’s Football Task Force meetings earlier this year was to develop promotional messages touting the value of such programs to schools and communities as a true celebration of participation, and a safety record which has shown catastrophic injuries going down over the years due to changes in rules and equipment. (Click on the link to preview the video messages) The same messages are also available in audio format.
All of the promotional messages can also be downloaded from the MHSAA Website.
Another school year brings with a return to weekly packages of highlights produced by schools in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program.
The School Broadcast Program gives member schools an opportunity to create video programming, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, and graphics; using the software provided by PlayOn! Sports. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions. As many as 60 MHSAA member schools annually participate in the program, which is in its fifth year.
This week’s package of School Broadcast Program Highlights from the week of Sept. 9 includes the following events:
Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover Week Three football games, some of which will be available at MHSAA.tv shortly after each game’s conclusion (all games Friday):
In the coming days, these events will be covered in other sports:
Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.
It’s also Week Four for MHSAA Football Friday Overtime on FOX Sports Detroit. Matt Shepard and Rob Rubick will host this week’s 30-minute highlights show. The program reairs on Saturday (Sept. 21) at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday (Sept. 22) at 9 a.m.
In addition to games being covered by School Broadcast Program members, the following contests are among those scheduled to be highlighted this week on Football Friday Overtime:
- Madison Heights Madison at St. Clair Shores South Lake
- Brighton at Grand Blanc
- Southfield at Oak Park
- Walled Lake Northern at Walled Lake Western
The network for the weekly radio commentary MHSAA Perspective – presented by the Michigan Army National Guard – has now grown to a total of 81 radio stations (76) and audio webcast sites (5) across the state, generally during the local broadcasts of high school games. The program runs for 30 weeks through the end of the winter sports season. MHSAA Perspective can also be accessed from the home page of the MHSAA Website. Visit the MHSAA Perspective page of the MHSAA Website for a complete list of network affiliates.
This week’s MHSAA Perspective is titled Remembering A Servant Leader, taking a look back at the life of retired MHSAA Executive Director Allen W. Bush, who passed away last week at the age of 90. Bush was the second full-time executive director of the Association, serving in that role from 1968 to 1978.
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