Josh Kerr Just Qualified For The 2025 Challenger Series

In 2024, LeBron James became the first NBA player to share the court with his offspring. Bronny James, drafted to the Lakers. There’s an image — just the two of them, alone on one side of the court. Father and son. Same jersey, same floor, same blood.

The move, though, reeked of choreography — another notch in LeBron’s legacy machine. Even Bronny’s draft pick, many say, wasn’t about talent — it was LeBron, pulling strings, making sure the story played out in a way that grew his legend.

Josh Kerr, apparently surfing’s answer to LeBron James, just clinched a Challenger Series spot at the Phillip Island Pro — securing a place alongside his daughter, Sierra, for the upcoming season.

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While the Kerrs won’t be the first parent-child duo to compete in the same events, they are, to our knowledge, the first father-daughter pair to be on tour together at the same time.

“It was definitely never the plan, but somehow I ended up here,” said Josh. While his story shares some parallels with LeBron’s, it’s clear that Josh’s return to meaningful competitive surfing isn’t about building his own legacy. It’s about supporting his 18-year-old daughter — all but destined for the CT by season’s end.

Josh joins Kyuss King, Xavier Huxtable, Oscar Berry, Winter Vincent, Jarvis Ealre, Billy Stairmand, and Tully Wylie as the men to qualify for the CS from the Australia/Oceania region, along with Julian Wilson, thanks to being gifted a season-long wildcard recently.

That’s two of the most electrifying surfers of the 2010s era back, theoretically, just a dog’s sneeze from a CT return. How much havoc can a 40-year-old Josh and a 36-year-old Julian wreak on a field of guys half their age?

Guess we’ll find out soon. The first event of the CS season kicks off in Newcastle on June 2nd. The CS just got interesting.