Meet Angella Sharpe: An interview with the St. Louis Blues host

Angella Sharpe may be the face of the St. Louis Blues home game experience to many, but deep down, she is a hardcore fan of the game who is getting to fulfill the job of a lifetime as the host of the Scottrade experience. A woman who watched the game with her grandfather as a kid, became giddy when she had the chance to share a moment with Brett Hull and Kelly Chase for the first time, and can’t get enough of making fans smile during breaks in the action.

Currently enjoying her 11^th season as host while also working as a broadcaster in other outlets around town, Sharpe sat down with me over some coffee at La Cosecha Coffee Roasters to discuss her work and how it all came to be.

Buffa: When did you first know that you wanted to be a broadcaster?

Sharpe: The sports broadcaster thing sort of found me. My degree is in elementary education. I always wanted the Blues job. When you grow up in this family, hockey is it. My grandfather played pickup games with Scotty Bowman. Where I grew up, you loved Blues hockey. That was a fact. We would go to games, and I would see the stuff going on during the breaks, and I thought it would be cool to do that. So I put the education on hold and went after the broadcaster career.

Buffa: What was your first job in broadcasting?

Sharpe: SLU college doing basketball games. I could play basketball, so that is one that I started with. At that time, they were playing at the Scottrade Center, so you also meet a lot of people who are doing the Blues games. The camera guys and production. And there was a show called St. Louis Country that was broadcast on KMOV that I danced at. The director of that show as the director of the in-game production for the St. Louis Blues. It was a perfect serendipitous moment. He told me to try out, and at the auditions I was the only girl there. When it came down to me and another guy, I got it.

Buffa: I think we need more female voices in the world of sports.

Sharpe: Especially in St. Louis. I mean, I like that people look forward to seeing me. And this opportunity had also opened the door to other opportunities in football and with the Cardinals. But there are so few spots in the market here for a female to get in. I’m hoping that changes.

Buffa: When you got that SLU gig, it must have gone from a dream to reality.

Sharpe: I’m not sure it is ever a reality though, because I’m always fighting to keep the job. You never get real comfortable. Like a player, you hope they take you back next season. Or, Fox Sports Midwest opens up with a spot.

Buffa: Tell us about your normal game day experience.

Sharpe: I get to the arena around 4:45 p.m. and we have a production meeting. Go through what we are going to do. Back then, I’d take the time to memorize what we were doing, but these days, those things are becoming staples in our routine, so then it’s just hanging out before the puck drop.

Buffa: One of the good things you do, being a public face, is use social media and outreach to your advantage.

Sharpe: I love when people come up to me out and about, and say, “hey Angella!” And I am sitting there going in my head, “who is this person?” But the truth is I have never met them before, and I think that is so cool. I’m really bad at Facebook and very good at Twitter and Instagram. It’s so much easier on Twitter. I love out with people and someone will just notice you. They feel like they know you, and that is what I’m here for.

Buffa: What else do you do in St. Louis?

Sharpe: I have the TV show, The Daily Mix, on STL TV on Mondays. I pick up a lot of side gigs, including some work for the Cardinals. I do a TV show for high school football, where I do the reporting.

Buffa: What’s on the horizon?

Sharpe: I really don’t know. I’m always looking for work. If anyone has a job with a microphone, especially in sports, I’m ready. I’m hoping for a bump from this interview. It’s one of those industries where you always want the next thing. I want the next job. I mean, people are going to want a new voice and face at Blues games eventually. Maybe we can start a Twitter campaign for the Fox Sports Midwest gig.

When you talk to Angella, you can feel the energy coming off her, a certain need to keep going and growing. Being the face of the Blues is a special job, but Sharpe doesn’t stop moving, working, and looking for that next great thing. What she gets to do is connect with 19,000 people every single home game, and the job has landed her some fame. But she will always be the girl who loved watching hockey with her grandfather, a game that she has gotten to make a career out of. And she will always look to become something more.

The next time you are at a game, keep a look out for Angella Sharpe, host for your St. Louis Blues. She isn’t just working an ordinary gig; Sharpe is living a dream.

*First published in the 12/27 St. Louis Game Time paper