XGL Draft 2026 — Chloe Covell pick #1, skateboarding enters the franchise era
On March 12, at Cosm Los Angeles, forty athletes were divided into four city teams. A draft. Like in the NBA. Except this time, it’s skateboarding and BMX. The X Games League just changed everything.
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A Historic Draft at Cosm Los Angeles
Five hundred guests. Four General Managers in suits. A five-round snake draft. The MoonPay X Games League Draft was nothing like a classic contest. It was a corporate, media event, broadcast live on ESPN, YouTube, Kick, and Amazon. The kind of night where skateboarding presents itself to the world in a suit it’s never worn before.
The principle is simple: four city clubs — XC Los Angeles, XC New York, XC Sao Paulo, and XC Tokyo — each select ten athletes. Five men, five women. Skateboarding and BMX mixed. All in a coed format, an absolute first in action sports.
And the craziest part? The athletes were between 11 and 35 years old. In what other sport do you see an 11-year-old kid drafted onto the same team as a 35-year-old veteran?
The Top 4 Picks Decoded
The first name called set the tone. Chloe Covell, 16, Australian, double gold medalist at X Games Salt Lake City 2025 in Street and Street Best Trick. Steve Rodriguez, GM of XC New York, didn’t hesitate for a second. The message is clear: the new generation is taking over.
Top 4 — First Round of the XGL Draft
Second pick: Tom Schaar, a Southern California native, with 17 X Games medals to his name. Sharalee « Haze » Hazen, GM of XC Los Angeles, played the local card. Makes sense. Third, Arisa Trew, 8 X Games gold medals, picked up by XC Tokyo. And Bob Burnquist closed out the first round by selecting Gui Khury, the most medaled teenager in X Games history with 15 accolades, for XC Sao Paulo.
Among the other names drafted in subsequent rounds: Nyjah Huston, Kevin Peraza, and Hannah Roberts. Heavy hitters. If you want to see what the global level looks like in 2026, check out Sky Brown’s victory at the Sao Paulo World Championships — it puts things in perspective.
4 Teams, 4 Cities, 4 Identities
What makes this format unique is the choice of GMs. Not business suits. Legends.
| Team | General Manager | Pick #1 |
|---|---|---|
| XC New York | Steve Rodriguez | Chloe Covell |
| XC Los Angeles | Sharalee « Haze » Hazen | Tom Schaar |
| XC Tokyo | Harumi Suzuki | Arisa Trew |
| XC Sao Paulo | Bob Burnquist | Gui Khury |
Bob Burnquist leads Sao Paulo. Steve Rodriguez, founder of 5Boro Skateboards, for New York. These aren’t desk managers. These are guys who bled on concrete for thirty years. And that changes everything about how the teams will be built.
The coed format is also a strong signal. Men and women on the same team, competing for the same points. Skateboarding has always been ahead in this area — the XGL makes it official. To understand the trajectory of pro skateboarding in 2026, take a look at Ginwoo Onodera’s feat at SLS Sydney.
Sacramento, Japan, Finals — The 2026 Schedule
Now that the rosters are locked, it’s time for competition. The schedule for the inaugural XGL season is set: three stages, two regular seasons, and a final.
Stage 1 — Sacramento, California: June 26-28, 2026. Over 100 athletes in skateboarding, BMX, and moto-X. A full festival dubbed X Fest with live music and partner village. This is where we’ll see the four teams compete for the first time.
Stage 2 — Japan: July 4-5. Japan, a land of obsessive skateboarding, hosts the second stage. Points accumulated in Sacramento and Japan will determine the standings before the final.
Stage 3 — Championship Final: location and date to be confirmed. But one thing is certain: team skateboarding, with city jerseys and points to defend, is unprecedented. And it’s likely to completely reshuffle the cards of professional skateboarding.
Skateboarding just took a turn no one saw coming. The SLS Los Angeles 2026 will be the next real-world test for these athletes. Stay tuned.
