Chiefs debut fellowship program for women in NFL personnel departments

You may already be familiar with the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program. Named after the San Francisco 49ers’ highly successful head coach from the 1980s, it seeks to provide qualified minority candidates the opportunity to work with NFL coaching staffs during the offseason, giving them valuable experience and contacts that can lead them to full-time coaching positions.

This offseason, two individuals are working with the Kansas City Chiefs under Walsh fellowships: L’Damian Washington and Katie Sowers.

Now the Chiefs have a similar program of their own. Named for Hunt family’s matriarch, the just-announced Norma Hunt Training Camp Fellowship Program will focus on giving female candidates experience inside the club’s personnel department, giving young women exposure to “pro and college scouting, free agent tryouts, salary cap and contracts, team operations, player engagement — and other departments within football operations.”

The Chiefs have already named two fellowship recipients for 2021: Madison Aponte and Ashley Smith.