Nodaway Holt grad gaining experience as Chiefs intern
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Cody Schniedermeyer (left) walks with a young Kansas City Chiefs fan after she gets an autograph from Chiefs player Eric Murray during training camp.
ST. JOSEPH — While Nodaway Holt graduate Cody Schniedermeyer doesn’t get to go through drills with the Kansas City Chiefs players, he does get pretty close to the action with the Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp Internship.
Schniedermeyer, one of more than 20 interns participating in the unpaid learning experience, has a wide range of responsibilities during the nearly three-week Chiefs training camp schedule.
“I’m kind of all over the place,” he said. “I help set up and take down the inflatables, the kids zones, I help give people rides from the parking lot to the camp, and I take care of the people in the VIP section.”
Schniedermeyer also helps with the general setup and takedown of a lot of the fan experiences associated with the Chiefs training camp and helps facilitate the “helmet walk” in which some of the Chiefs players sign autographs for fans following that day’s training camp session.
Most of these tasks are done in small groups or with at least one other person.
Coordinating and helping with the setting-up and taking-down of fan experience activities can also prove to be an interesting challenge when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
“For bad weather, we have to take down the different zones that we set up and help escort the public off the facilities,” he said. “Practice is closed to the public if moved inside and we do not assist. We either go back to the dorms or meet in the classroom to go over coursework.”
According to the internship’s website, interns receive
This was the case within the first week of training camp as rain and lightning forced the team to move the practice to Missouri Western’s indoor practice facility.
Dr. Regan Dodd, an Assistant Professor in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department at Missouri Western, is in charge of the internship and she said it is a big building block toward future opportunities.
“There are just so many aspects the interns can be involved with here,” Dodd said. “Sports is such a competitive business that a lot of people want to be in. It’s not uncommon for people who want to work in the industry, whether it be from the business side or the football side, to do four or five unpaid internships before they get a paying job. It’s really a great stepping stone to something else.”
Schniedermeyer is going to be a sophomore at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he is focusing on sports management and business. While he isn’t sure what he wants to do once he graduates, he’s sure it’s something on the business side of sports.
He also feels this internship is a valuable experience in preparing him for the future.
“It’s really just about all the people you get to meet and things you get to experience,” Schniedermeyer said. “That’s my favorite part — just getting to meet lots of people and experience a lot of different areas.”
Schniedermeyer mentioned meeting people from as far away as Texas, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Interns also receive two hours of class credit, which they pay for and is transferrable to any university. The class hours do come cheaper, however, if the intern attends Missouri Western or stays in state for college.
