Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon M..
Hi Sharon M., thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Sharon M. Blacknall is the VP of Administration for the ABA (American Basketball Association), Owner/General Manager of the Alamo City All-Stars ABA Professional Basketball team, Founder of Military Veterans Against Child Abuse, Founding Board Member of All-Stars Cares nonprofit, Author, Artist, and Business Management Advisor.
She moved to San Antonio as a Military dependent and graduated from Holmes H.S. and attended UTSA. Sharon is a proud USAF Veteran, a Wife and Daughter to USAF Veterans, and one of 36 Active Duty/Veterans in her family. She has over 30 years of experience hiring, managing, and training hundreds of employees, mentoring entrepreneurs, and handling multi-million-dollar budgets from initial bidding to the award and procurement phase. Sharon was one of the first Black women to serve as a USAF Electronic Computer Maintenance and Switching Specialist. Once she left the Air Force, she worked as a Field Engineer for a Defense Contractor in Southern California and Nevada.
After leaving the defense industry, Sharon was recruited by Mirage Resorts and was part of the Corporate Management team responsible for planning and opening two multi-billion-dollar casino properties in Las Vegas, NV (Treasure Island and Bellagio) and one multi-billion-dollar casino in Biloxi, MS (Beau Rivage). She wore multiple hats at the Mirage and Bellagio as a Manager of several departments, as well as a Corporate Buyer responsible for bidding and administering several multi-million dollar MGM Mirage Corporate contracts affecting all properties. Sharon also won the prestigious Supervisor in the Spotlight Award while working at Bellagio.
She also has previous experience as a Certified Residential and FHA Appraiser and owned a successful appraisal company that was one of the top three appraisal companies used by a national home builder in Southern Nevada for many years.
Upon moving back to San Antonio to help care for her Mother, she founded the Military Veterans Against Child Abuse nonprofit and wrote two preschool child safety books, which were awarded the Family Review Center’s Best of 2014 Award. The books are currently in use in many child development centers and Head Start classrooms. She also wrote a book for parents, called Growing Up Safe and Unafraid – Child Safety Tips for Parents and Grandparents. All of the books are available on Amazon and other book retailers.
It was through Military Veterans Against Child Abuse that she was first introduced to the American Basketball Association (ABA) by another Veteran. Later, Sharon, her husband JB, and a few good friends decided to start All-Stars Cares nonprofit and the Alamo City All-Stars ABA Team in 2018, which are proudly known as San Antonio’s Premier ABA team. Just a little trivia: The ABA has been around for over 50 years, and the current San Antonio Spurs got their start in this league before it merged with the NBA. The ABA is known for producing greats like George “Ice Man” Gervin, Dr. J, Rick Barry, and more. The All-Stars are fortunate to have Johnny “OO” Moore, a former San Antonio Spurs Legend whose jersey hangs in the rafters of the Frost Bank Center, as the Head Coach and Nevil “The Shadow” Shed, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, Director of the San Antonio Spurs Kids Basketball Camps, and of the famous West Texas Miners team, who is featured in the Disney movie, Glory Road, as one of the Assistant Coaches.
The Alamo City All-Stars won the 2019 NBA San Antonio Pro-Am Championship and have consistently been ranked in the ABA Top 25 Power Rankings each year. The All-Stars are making a difference in the San Antonio community in various ways, including volunteering at food pantries, toy drives, food drives, child safety education, and partnering with local organizations to conduct kids’ basketball camps. We are also proud to mentor young players to prepare for the next level of professional play, if that is their desire, or we help them figure out “What are you going to do when the cheering stops?” We are very proud of the Players who have started their post-playing careers as Mortgage Brokers, CPAs, Certified Trainers, Commercial Realtors, Ministers, Military Officers, Authors, Real Estate Investors, Environmental Techs, Teachers, and much more. This is bigger than basketball, and we want to ensure that everyone is equipped to succeed, regardless of the path they choose to take in life.
Additionally, Sharon has written a book called From Hooper To Pro – Understanding the Business of Basketball, which gives players a very simple blueprint about what steps they should take to get to higher levels or overseas, and gives them insight into the business side of the sport. The book also gets the players thinking about a subject that she asks all players that come through her organization – “What are You going to do when the Cheering Stops?” Because the truth is, all players will stop playing one day, whether an injury or age stops them, they should have a plan, and many don’t. She feels passionately that Owners have a moral obligation to help foster those players who want help to become better prepared for life after basketball while honing their skills as they play for a team. This book is also available on Amazon.
Sharon and the Alamo City All-Stars look forward to the upcoming season, which starts in October, and we are starting a campaign to feature local San Antonio area businesses to our many fans, not only around the city, but around the country as well. The Alamo City All-Stars’ reputation has earned them a worldwide following, and we are proud to positively promote men’s professional basketball to thousands of fans and represent the city we love. Our motto is #AllStarsRiseAbove because we are #SanAntoniosPremierABATeam.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has not always been a smooth road. The pandemic really threw us a curveball as we were undefeated that season, and we felt we could have gone all the way to the Finals. However, when everything shut down, it happened right before the ABA Finals were supposed to be played, and we didn’t get a chance.
Trying to fund everything can be challenging, too. Not everyone understands our journey, doesn’t know our management strengths/structure, and our core principles. We want to work with local companies to not only help sponsor these young men in their dreams, but to put a spotlight on everything that represents the best of San Antonio.
But, we have always managed to persevere in the face of challenges because #AllStarsRiseAbove challenges, adversity, and negativity!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Alamo City All-Stars?
With every organization I have founded, I always start with the principle and foundation of “Who can we help?”. Military Veterans Against Child Abuse was started to empower young children, as young as 4 years old, with the tools they need to stay safe. The Alamo City All-Stars Team was started to give young men the opportunity to showcase and hone their skills in preparation for playing basketball at a higher level. We also work with the players to encourage them to use this time to prepare for a career after basketball. The All-Stars Cares organization was started as a way for the team to give back to the San Antonio community.
All 3 of these organizations are a testament to my life’s motto: “We are supposed to leave this world better than in which we came into it.” I want people to feel uplifted after dealing with any of these three organizations, and pay it forward to others.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I take what I would call ‘calculated risks’. Examples of some of the major risks I’ve taken are: signing up for the career field I chose in the USAF when no Black woman had succeeded yet, and being told daily that I wouldn’t make it so just quit. We started with 47 students in the class (I was the only female), and almost a year later, 7 of us graduated.
When I decided to leave the casino industry, I decided to go to school for Real Estate Appraising. One of the things you do during your last week of school is find a Certified Appraiser to intern with. I would send my form and resume out to dozens of appraisers and kept getting told no. Finally, the instructor pulled me aside and said that in his 25 years as a county appraiser, he had not seen a single Black female appraiser in that county. He said others had taken the course but got discouraged after a few nos and quit. There’s a saying in my family, “Mama didn’t raise no punks”, so I was determined to prove everyone wrong, and I did. Forever grateful to Tammie, who gave me a chance to show what I could do!
There are dozens of other ‘milestones or risks’ over the years, but I believe in Faith over Fear, so risks are going to have to get out of my way because I know whose child I am!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.AlamoCityAllStarsTeam.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealamocityallstars
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAlamoCityAllStars/
- Other: https://www.alamocityallstarstv.com/
