Life Outside the Comfort Zone: Koenigs Dreams Big in the Sports Arena

The first time Cadence Koenigs heard the news that she’d received a scholarship, she nearly ignored the phone call.

Watching TV and sprawled on the couch at her parents’ house, she didn’t recognize the unknown number that popped up on her screen. On a whim, Cadence answered the call anyways – and the news she heard sent her barreling into her mother’s arms, tears racing down her face. What followed next would be a journey of self-discovery that would lead her right out of her comfort zone and into the pathway of her dream career, starting at South Dakota State University.

Growing up in Mapleton, Iowa, Cadence was accustomed to life in a small town, part of a community where everyone knew everyone and where, when it came to chasing dreams, most people chose to stay put. As she set out to become a first-generation student in her family following high school, there was one SDSU alum encouraging Cadence to check out Brookings. “My aunt and uncle went here and met here, and my uncle was always chirping in my ear, like, ‘You’ve got to visit campus, you’ve got to see a Jacks game,’” she recalls with a laugh.

Choosing South Dakota State aligned with Cadence’s desire to find a university that felt large, but was still navigable, and that was close enough to Mapleton that she could visit when she wanted, but far enough away that she wouldn’t be tempted to go home every weekend; if she was going to leave behind her comfort zone, Cadence wanted to ensure that she positioned herself to make the most of her time in college. Scholarship support only solidified the idea, and she set off for SDSU.

Having grown up playing sports, Cadence originally majored in journalism, intent on becoming a broadcaster for ESPN. With her dad coaching varsity basketball back home in Iowa, a love of sports was in her blood, and it was soon a significant part of her resume and career path. Pivoting to a major in sports and recreation management with a minor in communication studies, she joined the sports and recreation management club and secured a position as a game-day marketing intern for Jackrabbit Athletics. On any given game day at SDSU, you can find Cadence blazing through a wide variety of tasks, including combing the stands to select yellow and blue fans to participate in between-play games and promotions. Her favorite aspect is interacting with the crowd, energized by the connection and atmosphere of Jackrabbit Nation across every sport. To Cadence, her job doesn’t feel like a job at all.

“In this program, I don’t feel like a student – I feel more like part of a family,” she explains. “I’ve met a lot of people I love spending time with, and it doesn’t even feel like I’m going to work.”

Just finishing her junior year at State, Cadence can already cross countless goals off her bucket list, a major one being an internship with the Kansas City Chiefs. While a gig like that might have felt impossibly out of reach before, Cadence’s experience with SDSU Athletics prepared her well, training her to be calm under pressure and thrive in a fast-paced environment. When she heard about the internship opportunity, she summoned her courage to throw her hat in the ring. Out of more than 800 applicants around the country, only 33 operations interns were selected – and Cadence was among them. In the summer of 2024, she entered the melee of NFL sports in Missouri, specializing in fan engagement. Each day was a marathon of setting up tents, escorting the players’ families into the stadium via golf cart, facilitating camps for kids observing training, monitoring security at the gates, and participating in evening classes. It was everything she’d dreamed of doing, and it was a window into what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

Looking back on the experience, she says, “My network grew, and I made so many cool connections, including both people who work for the team and other teams around the country. Especially with starting in a different major and looking at where I am now, I’ve learned that everybody has a path in life. You might not start on the path, but if you look hard enough, you’ll find it.”

When asked about her plans for the future, she smiles and simply answers, “They’re big.” There are 32 teams in the NFL, each equipped with two player engagement department heads, and Cadence is determined to be one of them someday. Though it’s a lofty ambition, she’s realistic about the work ahead and what it will take to get there.

“It’s a very competitive field. It’s a lot of getting to know people, putting your name out there, building your resume, building your network,” Cadence explains. “Being patient is a huge thing in that field, which I’m trying to learn.”

Cadence is no stranger to being a leader and going after what she believes in, not only in the field of sports management, but in her other great passion in life: diabetes awareness. When she was diagnosed with Type One diabetes at the age of four, her family was blindsided and overwhelmed, with no knowledge of what the disease was or how to treat it. Cadence’s entrepreneurial spirit is certainly something that runs in her family, as, in the face of that uncertainty, the Koenigs decided to form their own nonprofit organization called Type One LTD. By modeling both activism and philanthropy, Cadence credits her family for shaping who she is, helping get her not only to where she is today, but where she aims to be in the future.

With an emphasis on advocacy and awareness, she’s used her firsthand experience to lend support to those affected by diabetes. Despite a full roster of classes, internships, and extracurriculars, Cadence is always careful to carve out time for Type One: sending care packages and informational pamphlets to newly diagnosed families, funding summer camps for children with diabetes, and facilitating a well-known golf tournament in the area called Drive Fore Diabetes, with 36 teams participating each year to raise funds.

Each November, Cadence makes a point to return to Mapleton for Diabetes Awareness Month, where she visits elementary schools, speaking and reading books to classrooms to spread awareness about the disease that’s deeply impacted her life. No matter where her career takes her, she intends to continue her advocacy in any capacity she can, hoping to perhaps even partner with professional athletes someday.

Another key area of support fueled by Type One is scholarships, providing financial resources to those diagnosed with diabetes or who have a loved one with the disease. Through her involvement in facilitating those scholarships, Cadence fully recognizes the gravity of the scholarships she’s received herself at SDSU. She explains that they’ve allowed her to capitalize on lifechanging opportunities without juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Cadence describes the donors behind scholarships as life-changers who can never be thanked enough, whose generosity doesn’t go unnoticed. It certainly made a difference for her, having changed the trajectory of her life.

“By receiving scholarship support, I’ve made myself proud by putting myself out there and being noticed in this way, and I’ve made my family proud, too,” she says. “Being able to follow my dreams and being able to work in the sports management world shows I’m doing something right, and I’m on the right path.”

Thinking back to the girl she was years ago, Cadence sees the moment she answered that phone call about scholarship support as a turning point. Torn between a tiny community in the heart of the status quo and a bold chapter that would require a great deal of growth and grit, she’s learned to follow her dreams, even if it scares her. The opportunities she’s discovered, both at South Dakota State and beyond, have transported her past her comfort zone, somewhere on the other side of hard work and faith. Cadence’s story seems to answer two age-old questions: why not me, and why not now?

“My story is a message to kids from small towns, that you don’t have to stay where you are. When I was younger, I felt I would stay where I was, that it was where I belonged, and I would just have to figure out how to make a life there,” Cadence reflects. “I want to tell small-town kids: it’s okay to pave your own path. It obviously can be scary, but you don’t have to stay where you are to make a name for yourself, to find your dream, and to fulfill it.”