Fabulous news for the state of skateboarding! Royce Campbell, Sheldon Lewis, and Gary Payton II believe skateboarding can be better and have joined forces to found a revolutionary new type of skateboard league. This initiative comes out of Payton’s lifelong love of skateboarding, a sport that he calls the “foundation” of his childhood.
The league aims to alleviate the stress and uncertainty that athletes often face, creating an environment where they can focus on competition. Payton, the director of VIP relations and a team owner in the league, has their eyes set. He wants to create an internal structure that helps support those skaters to get the best opportunities.
Every team in the league will have six competitors— three females and three males— plus substitutes and trainers. The league is determined to woo the best talent with all of the cash they can throw around. This encompasses six-figure salaries for the highest draft picks and high five-figure salaries for the lowest.
Payton’s ambition extends beyond the initial launch. To that, he’s accomplished the first step in building a NBA-style Development League featuring several upstate venues, training facilities and an annual draft combine. This is indicative of the league’s clarity of vision. It hopes to sign at least 18 additional athletes as it heads towards its first ever draft in Los Angeles later this year.
That thrilling first six-month season will begin in Big Bear. Located a mere two hours east of Los Angeles, this whimsical mountain town is a sun-worshiper’s paradise. The place is especially appropriate, since it has been known for its appropriateness for altitude training and action sports for several years. Travis Scott, a local community leader and artist, shared his excitement for the new league, saying,
“Big Bear has always been a natural home for altitude training and action sports, and we’re excited to welcome the SBA as they set their sights on our mountain community.”
The league has recently signed 18 athletes to non-exclusive contracts. Retrofitting our ecosystem Notable names among them Kevin Hoefler, Manny Santiago, Ryan Decenzo, Pamela Rosa, and Samarria Brevard. Payton hopes to do the same for skaters by starting this league. He’s ambitious to make sure they receive the credit and resources they rightly earned.
“I want the skaters to be valued, and to get them the right sponsorships so they can take care of their bodies, take care of their families, buy their own crib,” said Payton. He noted that skateboarders are forced to use their bodies more than athletes in most other sports.
“Skaters put more of their body on the line than athletes in most sports other than football,” he noted.
So as he looks back on his career, Payton remembers his beginnings in the world of skateboard design. “Growing up, I always wanted to be a skateboarder. The skate park was right next to the basketball court,” he shared. He admits that many other pro athletes in other sports come from the same cloth.
Consider that most athletes in hockey’s competitor sports of football and basketball were raised on skating. So many of them had to hang up their skateboards to focus on their work life.
Payton is convinced this league will provide far more than a purely competitive setting. It becomes a truly transformative opportunity for skaters who have too often been marginalized or ignored in comparison to their counterparts across traditional sports.
“Why don’t they get the same treatment as NBA players when they’re taking more risks than we are?” he questioned.
Samarria Brevard, one of the signed athletes, echoed this sentiment, stating, “This is a game changer and will create avenues for us that weren’t there before.”
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