Joshua,
If you really want to write for newspapers and get that experience, the best opportunity would be to freelance and cover live games for (probably) $50 to $150 a pop.
A mid-sized paper that covers a lot of schools and teams would be your best bet, but it's not really a job you relocate for.
When I hired freelancers, I was leery of newbies, but if they were accurate, made deadline, wrote reasonably well and were available when I needed them, they got steady work. It's not a living. More like a second income.
Most of the freelance opportunities are covering live high school sports, smaller college sports, lower level pro sports and the like. If you have expertise in a certain sport that's good, but if you only want to cover, say soccer or rugby, that's bad.
It's not easy. Takes time to get to know the ropes.
It's also traditionally not a path to covering a pro beat at a paper, but it is a chance to hone your writing, reporting and observational skills and get some clips. Good on a resume for other media/communications/writing opportunities.
When looking for freelance opportunities, persistence is good. But you have to be able to do what they need, not sell them on why they need you to be at the Vikings game or whatever.
Good luck.
