Practicing Press: Oglethorpe Students Take On Atlanta United
- Fynn Grindle '25
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
After weeks of preparation and barely contained excitement, on April 12, a group of eight Oglethorpe University students headed to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and up an elevator to a place they’d never seen before: the Atlanta United press box.
Johannes Schneider, the Communications Coordinator for Atlanta United FC, reached out to Dr. Kate Keib, the Program Coordinator of Communication Studies at Oglethorpe, extending an invitation to bring a small group of students to get a behind-the-scenes look at the media functions during game days. The students–Fynn Grindle ‘25, Ronni Cassell ‘25, Nyle Farooqui ‘25, Kike Hernandez ‘25, Ayah Mateen ‘28, Justin Edwards ‘25, Kate Wilson ‘27, Sarah Gilley ‘25–had creative liberty with what kind of content they wished to create.
“It’s always interesting to see what the new students are like; it’s been a long time since I’ve been in college,” Schneider said with a laugh. “So it’s also a good opportunity for me to maybe learn a little bit more about what’s in, what's hip these days. But also, you know, just kind of try to provide an opportunity and kind of bring it onto the next generation. We all had people that kind of did that for us when we were in that situation. And so you know it's a small way that we can really kind of provide that.”
For Farooqui, the experience was “like a dream come true.” He added, “I’ve been to the stadium many times before to watch games but I’ve never been to this press box before. It’s a dream of mine to cover soccer [like] Atlanta United, especially with the World Cup coming up, so I’m excited to potentially be able to get into that scene.”
Edwards focused his project on photography and videography and spent time on the field capturing the game and his fellow students in the media room. “I see myself in the content field, whether that's making content for my own company or helping another company with their marketing and content efforts,” he said. “So I think it's always great experience to be out in the field, capturing content and then also going through the process of editing it and ultimately specializing it for the platform that it's going to be used on. And I think this is a great opportunity to do that.”
Even though Atlanta United brought schools like the University of Georgia onto the field before, Schneider expressed how this opportunity with Oglethorpe was a way to include otherwise overlooked small schools without established journalism programs.
“Ever since I’ve kind of come into this role of running the press box, I really wanted to focus on providing opportunities for college students in any way possible, to get into the door,” Schneider said. “There's a lot of opportunities for us to showcase what we do and allow students a chance. And, who knows? Maybe somebody will be inspired today, you know, or in the future that they want to work for a club, or they want to work in soccer, or they want to work in sports overall.”
And, whether it be marveling at the view from the press box, sitting down to talk with an Atlanta United executive, or shooting footage on the field, it was clear the students felt that sense of inspiration and motivation.
“[The opportunity today has] definitely intrigued me more; as I've gotten closer to graduation, the role of communications is hard to get a job in–a nice, high paying job–but I think being through this experience has definitely motivated me to do the extra push to keep trying to get a job in this field, because it does make it worth it. It's a fulfilling job, and everybody seems to really enjoy it, which is nice.”
Grant Utter, the university's Associate Director of Marketing and Communications, also joined the group to capture the students’ afternoon.
“My favorite part of the job is getting to see students do what they do and do it well,” Utter expressed. “In my experience, every time Oglethorpe students come out on top, they're so professional, they're so knowledgeable, they're so driven. I'm really grateful that my job lets me see what the next generation of students are up to and learning. And it's really gratifying to know that the work that I do helps connect other potential rock stars like you guys to opportunities like this.”
The day was long and spent interviewing, jotting down notes during the match, taking photos and videos, and attending the post-game press conference. Yet, the group left the stadium feeling that same excitement they walked into the Benz with. Just, this time, for the content they would soon create and the professional experience they would take with them for the future.
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