Kim Cannon Internship Opens for the 2025-2026 season
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is pleased to announce that the applications for the Kim Cannon Internship have opened for the 2025-26 season. This year's application will mark the fifth year since the Kim Cannon Internship was established. In 2021, the NAHL alongside the current Tampa Bay Lightning head coach and former NAHL head coach, Jon Cooper, created this opportunity for a recent college graduate who is interested in pursuing a career in sports.
The internship is named after a former NAHL team employee, Kim Cannon. On September 9, 2020, Cannon was involved in an automobile accident that tragically took her life at the age of 35.
Jon Cooper shares why this internship was created in Kim Cannon’s namesake.
"I am honored to announce the creation of the Kim Cannon internship in cooperation with the North American Hockey League. It will be an annual commitment by myself and the wonderful owners of the NAHL to ensure Kim's legacy can live on and that we can honor her memory and give somebody an opportunity to make an impact on the hockey world and the lives of others in such a positive way that Kim did.”
Back in 2003, Kim joined the NAHL’s Texarkana Bandits as a bright-eyed 19-year-old willing to do whatever it took to help the organization. She worked alongside the Bandits' head coach Jon Cooper at the time. She advanced from selling merchandise out of a shed to becoming the Bandits’ Director of Team Operations. Kim guided the organization through a relocation and rebrand to become the St. Louis Bandits. It was in St. Louis that Kim was a member of the team that won three straight Robertson Cup Championships, including two with Cooper before his departure in 2008.
Candidates for the Kim Cannon internship should be recent college graduates who are able to relocate to the Dallas, Texas area while representing the high ideals characterized by Kim. This opportunity is a 10-month stipend internship that would begin on August 1, 2025, and conclude on May 31, 2026. The recipient would learn all aspects of NAHL’s league operations and administration.
“The Kim Cannon Internship is a way for the NAHL to provide an opportunity annually to someone who shares the same type of passion and drive that Kim displayed when she was working within the NAHL,” said NAHL Commissioner and President Mark Frankenfeld. “The Kim Cannon Intern will gain valuable experience working with our family of leagues that they can then use as a stepping stone and building block to continue their careers.”
The application is live starting on January 6, 2025 and will close on February 22, 2025.
To learn more about the legacy of Kim Cannon and details of the application process, make sure to click here.
