26-Year-Old Surge Owner Envisions Charge Into WNBA

During intermission of a recent St. Louis Surge basketball game, a large group of pre-teen girls are gathered at the concession stand, contemplating halftime snacks.

The server on the other side of the counter listens to one patron’s request and legitimately feels bad about the news she’s about to deliver.

“I’m sorry, we’re all out of hot dogs,” she apologizes with a smile. “Maybe I can get you some nachos?”

The young girl thinks about it, completely oblivious to the fact that she’s face-to-face with the woman who is running tonight’s proceedings…literally.

“Maybe topped with some jalapenos?” says Surge Owner/General Manager Khalia Collier, eyebrows raised and with a twinkle in her eye.

There’s no rush to her inquiry. After all, customer satisfaction is a top priority for the “queen pin” of women’s semi-pro basketball in St. Louis and taking care of the hungry masses is an extension of client services, no matter how long it takes.

“I’ll have a bag of chips,” quietly says the young hoops fan, unsure of the response.

“Bam!” says Collier while fist-tapping the concession stand’s metal base. “You got it! Coming right up!” She’s handed a bag from a volunteer and then proceeds to present it to a pair of outstretched palms.

Two needs are now served with the simple transaction. One, a Surge supporter gets a treat. More importantly for Collier, a potential negative has now been turned into something positive by being hands-on, up-front and personable with the customer.

This mindset has been imperative since Collier, 26, took possession of the franchise three seasons ago.

That last sentence wasn’t in error numerically. In May 2011, she became the owner of the Surge at the age of 23.

Her expectations are lofty this season. Number one, Collier’s team is looking for a national championship in the highly-competitive, 48-team Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League (WBCBL). The Surge (7-1) currently sits atop the Mid-West Division standings and shows the characteristics of a team that should realistically make waves come post-season.

Raising a league trophy might seem enough of an incentive, but Collier’s future aspirations are significantly higher. St. Louis’ potential placement in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a possession that she and her dedicated legion of players, coaches, support personnel and fans crave.

“The long range goal is to ultimately transition into a WNBA team,” she says. “The original plan was that after our fifth year of completion, our sixth year was about looking into transitioning. We want to continue that momentum.”

2014 is year “number five” in the team’s portfolio and the Surge displays the attributes, both on and off-court, that can potentially fit the WNBA’s bill. A 30-6 WBCBL record since 2012 and local attendance that consistently averages over four-digits certainly provides the amplitude needed to progress to the next level.

Most importantly, the Surge’s infrastructure, paced by its enthusiastic owner, is in-step with what the WNBA is looking for in an expansion team.

“There are different WNBA franchises and by us aligning our operations, we want to be comparable to a WNBA team,” says Collier. “Operations. Talent. All the way across the board.”

It’s a pretty ambitious mindset for someone still considered young in business years. However for Collier, the Surge is her business…and it’s all business.

“Our theme this year is ‘Experience the Evolution,’” she says proudly. “You’re experiencing the evolution of women’s sports. Most people say that women’s sports are such a tough sell. It’s not a tough sell, it just depends on who’s selling it.”

Collier herself has evolved both as an athlete and businesswoman since her days as a 5’ 10” prep standout at Fort Zumwalt South. She received a basketball scholarship in 2006 from Columbia College and following her sophomore year, she transferred to Missouri Baptist University, playing at first basketball and then inevitably golf for the Spartans, while pursuing a degree in marketing.

Upon graduation, Collier worked locally in automotive sales, yet kept a keen eye on local athletics, specifically the Surge, launched as a women’s semi-pro basketball franchise in the WBCBL’s 2009 season. The team had mixed results in the record column during its first two years of operation, but its home record, and more importantly, its impressive turnout for home games, gave Collier enough of an incentive to make a bid for ownership in 2011.

When netting the franchise in May of that year, Collier knew from the onset that having mentors from both athletic and business fields was imperative to advance the Surge from its cultivation level. She willingly sat underneath the proverbial “learning tree” and soaked up knowledge from executives such as Maxine Clark, founder of St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear Workshop.

“I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to have very key mentors in my life,” Collier says. “We have a group of Power Surge supporters that I lean on that is from every form of industry. I take every advantage to listen.”

In allegiance of the entrepreneur during this season’s local campaign, 20 CEOs attended the Surge’s home opener on June 21 and Collier made it a point to seek advice from all.

“I wanted every form of feedback,” she says. “We are only trying to get better and I think having people like that, especially those who have went down that path before and have built businesses, to share that insight, that’s consulting that I can’t get for free.”

Knowing that performance on the court is just a small sliver of promoting the franchise, Collier makes it a priority to spread the message of women’s semi-pro basketball to all audiences.

“Personally, I speak eight to ten times a month,” she says. “Anytime, anywhere. I speak at a lot of school districts and a lot of universities.”

That method also extends to her working roster of 14 players and the team’s coaching staff. Keeping in step with the Collier’s overall mantra of evolution, community outreach is not an option, but a mandate.

“It has to be two-fold and our players get it,” she says. “Our players are engaged. We do a lot of skills clinics. We appear at a lot of middle schools. We’re in parades. We are campaigning the whole year.”

As the Surge’s June 28 home contest versus Kansas proceeds, Collier is perpetually active. One minute, she’s seated amongst season ticket holders, thanking them for their support. She’ll also make it a priority to educate newcomers about the franchise’s local role and future WNBA aspirations.

“I really make it my part to go out and thank everyone for attending and explaining of what the vision of the Surge is outside of just basketball,” Collier says.

Moments later, she’ll dart to the evening’s participating musical and cheer leading acts, enthusiastically recommending routines to keep the crowd of 1,500 engaged.

Then there are those moments where she discards the cloak of ownership altogether and becomes a fan of the sport. High-fives replace corporate handshakes. Collier will intently watch game play, loudly clapping and emphatically fist-pumping when the ball swishes through the nylon net.

Recalling her athletic roots, Collier finds it hard not to proverbially “lace up the shoes” and assist her team during a hard-court donnybrook.

“Absolutely, and then I realize that I’m so much better at what I do now,” she chuckles.

In the latter stretches of the closely-contested nail biter, Collier inevitably winds up at the house microphone and audibly leads a chant of “Defense!” The fans follow her booming cadence because they know she badly wants a “W” for her franchise, as do they.

In the end, the sweat equity pays off with the Surge’s 62-54 win over Kansas that gives the team its fourth straight duke. Realistically, it’s a double triumph for the franchise as the crowd leaves Mark Twain Building satisfied, both in performance and event production.

According to Collier, ingraining themselves locally is imperative to sustaining traction in a sports market that is proliferated with major and minor league franchises. Displaying that trait in its own backyard might potentially lead to inclusion with the WNBA in 2015.

“The best thing about the St. Louis market is that our market doesn’t go anywhere,” she says. “We can almost be our own separate island and be the exact form of a league for the WNBA consistently to where there are 12 WNBA teams and when you think of 13, the Surge is right there.”

In the not-so-distant future, if the Surge does become the “baker’s dozen” of WNBA leagues, one thing’s for certain. Collier will be there to spearhead that charge.

Even if that means making sure her loyal fans continue to get their concessions from the owner herself.

The Surge continues its home campaign against the Illinois Shooting Stars on Saturday, July 12 at UMSL’s Mark Twain Building. The event is billed as “Pink Out for Cancer Awareness.” For more information on the event, which includes a link for tickets, go to stlsurgebasketball.com.

(Image Credit: St. Louis Surge Basketball and Brian Ledford)