He was a key player in the team that won the Olympic gold medal against the odds at Lake Placid.
The crunch game in the competition was the US team's 4-3 win against the Soviet Union, in which a side of amateurs and part-time players beat a team of professionals.
The US beat Finland 4-2 to claim the gold medal.
The Soviet game is the most talked-about encounter in the history of the sport, and a 2004 film, Miracle, recreated the action.
Schneider (54), who scored one of the US team's goals against the Soviets, is the co-ordinator of the Turkish men's team that is playing in the third division world championships in Dunedin this week.
The film has special interest for Schneider as his son, Billy (28), portrayed his father in the film.
"It was the icing on the cake for me," Schneider told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
"I never dreamed, after winning the gold medal, that 25 years later they would make a movie and my son would be part of it. It's kind of surreal."
The Miracle on Ice was the highlight of Schneider's sporting career.
"Nothing comes close to that," he said. "It was a wonderful occasion and I'm glad I was one of the team. If it wasn't for us 20 guys sticking together we would never have achieved that."
The team has been showered with honours recognising its achievement in 1980 as one of the great moments in US sport.
The team was the first inductee to the US Olympic Hall of Fame, and became a member of the US Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
"It's been a great honour," he said. "We have won so many awards and they just keep coming. It's hard to remember them all."
The team lit the Olympic torch at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.
During the 1979-80 season, Schneider played 62 games for the US and scored 27 goals.
He scored five goals and added three assists in the seven games on the journey to gold at the 1980 Games.
"I scored a number of important goals during my career, but that one against the Soviets was my most important," he said.
"After 30 years I can still remember it very well," Schneider said.
"My friend Mark Pavelich had the puck in the neutral zone and he brought all the defence men to the right side and he passed across the rink.
"It was going against the grain for me and I received the puck on the edge of the blue line.
I let fly as the goal tender was going back to the right and the puck went into the left of the net."
He remembered the last 10 minutes, when the Americans were ahead 4-3.
"The shifts were about 30 to 40 seconds long and none of us wanted to be on the ice, so the shifts were shortened to 25 seconds," he said.
Schneider said the bond between team members was stronger today than it was 30 years ago.
"We are all amazed that the game has carried such a long legacy," he said.
"The team has come even closer together. We are like an extended family. Our relationships with each other are a lot stronger."
New Zealand wants to remain unbeaten when it plays its final game of the championships against Ireland tonight.
Ice Blacks manager Charlie Reid told the Otago Daily Times his team would not be taking the game lightly, and it wanted to go out in style against the Irish.
New Zealand heads the points table with 11 points with just one day to go and is followed by the fast-finishing Turkey and Luxembourg (9), Greece (7), and Ireland (3).
Turkey looked sharp when it outplayed Ireland and won 7-1 at the Dunedin Ice Stadium last night.
The game was effectively over when Turkey led 3-0 after the first period.
Players to impress for Turkey were Gokturk Tasdemir, Emrah Ozmen and goal tender Eray Atali, who made 27 saves.
The best players for Ireland were Dean Kelly and Mark Morrison.
In the other game, Luxembourg kept itself in contention for promotion to second division when it beat Greece 7-2.
Benny Welter had an impressive game, scoring two goals.
The Schneider file
William "Buzz" Schneider.
Age: 54.
Family: Wife Gayle, sons Billy and Neal.
Home town: Minneapolis, US.
Occupation: Real estate licensee and co-ordinator of Turkish Ice hockey team.
Sport: Ice hockey.
Record: US representative 1974-83.
Gold medal 1980 Olympic Games.
