Kelly Slater officially granted wildcard berth for 2024 World Surf League season

How long has Kelly Slater been surfing?

In perspective, when the second event on the 2024 World Surf League schedule kicks off at Sunset Beach, Hawaii, in February, the 11-time world champion will be just 10 years from Social Security eligibility.

Yet, the sport's superstar, who grew up learning the mysteries of the ocean on 3rd Street North in Cocoa Beach, now called Kelly Slater Way, continues to be a star attraction in the water and out of the water, where he has 3.3 million Instagram followers.

This past week, the WSL granted Slater, 51, a wildcard berth for the 2024 season, which opens in late January with the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii, an event he won just days before his 50th birthday.

"It continues the Slater legend," said John Hughes, Executive Director of the Florida Surf Museum in Cocoa Beach. "He's pushed past the 50 mark and doesn't seem to be slowing down. It's good to see they're giving him another chance on the tour."

Since that remarkable 56th career victory in Hawaii, which came 30 years after he first won at Pipe, Slater's championship magic never quite returned, although he showed plenty of flashes of brilliance along the way.

This year, he missed the mid-season cut for the first time, yet was given the opportunity to surf the second half of the season, although he never could move up far enough to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. He finished 23rd in the final rankings, with three ninth-place finishes among the nine events he entered.

Surfers not finishing among the top 24 men at the midway point are relegated to lower-tier qualifying series, where the world's much younger stars launch their careers and at venues not comparable to the major level.

Despite the naysayers who say he's taking a young kid's spot, keeping Slater on the primary circuit assures the league of a strong fan following.

"Kelly Slater is the draw," Hughes said. "As far as the general public goes, there's Kelly Slater, then there's everybody else."

During the Rip Curl Final 5 championships at Lower Trestles, Calif, where former Melbourne Beach resident Caroline Marks won the women's world title, 260,000 viewers tuned in to see the day's live webcast. Had Slater been competing, that number likely would have tripled.

"Definitely would have pushed the numbers up," Hughes said.

Slater won the last of his 11 world titles in 2011.

The 10-event 2024 WSL schedule could be in Slater's favor, with stops at Pipeline (a stone's throw from one of his homes and where he has won eight times); and Bells Beach, Australia, (four wins there) on the front end.

Following the mid-season cut, there's Teahupo'o, Tahiti (five wins there); Cloudbreak in Fiji (four wins and a perfect 20 score in 2013); and, the finals at Lower Trestles, a familiar spot where he won his first pro contest on the qualifying series' Bud Pro Tour in 1990, at age 18, not long after graduating from Cocoa Beach High.

The man-made waves at Slater's Surf Ranch, where judging criteria was questioned by at least three Brazilian surfers this season, and J-bay, South Africa, are not on the 2024 schedule.

The 2024 WSL rosters include seven rookies and 11 surfers from mainland America, evidence that the USA Prime Series has been a success in developing new talent to compete on a global scale.

Here's the full list of 2024’s World Surf League Championship Tour competitors:

Women’s 2024 Championship Tour Qualifiers

Top 10 Qualifiers from 2023 Championship Tour Rankings

• Caroline Marks (USA)

• Carissa Moore (HAW)

• Tyler Wright (AUS)

• Caitlin Simmers (USA)

• Molly Picklum (AUS)

• Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)

• Lakey Peterson (USA)

• Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)

• Gabriela Bryan (HAW)

• Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)

Top 5 Qualifiers from 2023 Challenger Series Rankings

• India Robinson (AUS)

• Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)

• Sawyer Lindblad (USA)

• Alyssa Spencer (USA)

• Isabella Nichols (AUS)

WSL Season Wildcards

• Johanne Defay (FRA)

• Brisa Hennessy (CRC)

WSL Replacement

• Luana Silva (BRA)

Men’s 2024 Championship Tour Qualifiers

Top 22 Qualifiers from the 2023 Championship Tour Rankings

• Filipe Toledo (BRA)

• Ethan Ewing (AUS)

• Griffin Colapinto (USA)

• Joao Chianca (BRA)

• Jack Robinson (AUS)

• Gabriel Medina (BRA)

• Yago Dora (BRA)

• John John Florence (HAW)

• Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)

• Ryan Callinan (AUS)

• Connor O’Leary (AUS)

• Barron Mamiya (HAW)

• Italo Ferreira (BRA)

• Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)

• Ian Gentil (HAW)

• Jordy Smith (RSA)

• Liam O’Brien (AUS)

• Caio Ibelli (BRA)

• Matthew McGillivray (RSA)

• Callum Robson (AUS)

• Rio Waida (INA)

• Seth Moniz (HAW)

Top 10 Qualifiers from the 2023 Challenger Series Rankings

• Cole Houshmand (USA)

• Samuel Pupo (BRA)

• Jacob Willcox (AUS)

• Crosby Colapinto (USA)

• Eli Hanneman (HAW)

• Imaikalani deVault (HAW)

• Frederico Morais (POR)

• Jake Marshall (USA)

• Kade Matson (USA)

• Deivid Silva (BRA)

WSL Season Wildcards

• Kelly Slater (USA)

• Miguel Pupo (BRA)

WSL Replacement

• Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR)

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Kelly Slater will be back for 2024 World Surf League season