johndeereman said:
hello i am pretty intrested in judging livestock in college and was wondering wat all it takes to make it on a team also is it better to start out at a junior college then go to a university??? wat r some of the better skools to attend also Thank you for your help in advance
Johndeereman,
First off, glad to hear that you are interested in livestock judging. What began for me as something that I just enjoyed has now became my passion and full time job as livestock judging coach. It can be a truely wonderful and amazing experience if done right.
Now back to the question at hand. There are many things that go into becoming a member of a livestock judging team. Most coaches will want to know your experience and background in livestock judging and production. Secondly, it would be beneficial for you to get into contact with the coaches at the schools you are looking at. Let them know you are interested. It's sometimes hard to find kids that are really interested in judging and are not just doing it to please their parents or just to pay for school (although that can be a plus as well if you are truely interested in it).
The next thing to make sure of is that you are ready for the time commitment that it takes to be successful in this game. We are on the road a lot of the time and if we aren't then we are still practicing and giving reasons at least 3 to 5 days a week. You must be able to balance the workload between school and judging. As of right now I require my students to maintain a 2.5 GPA in order to travel but that will prolly move to a 2.7 or 2.8 within the next year or so. Education for me is a must.
Next, make sure you look at a lot of schools. Find the one that is the best fit for you and will provide you the type of education and experience that you need to go on. I recommend going the JuCo route, part of that is biased as a JuCo coach, but part of it is also from personal experience in attending a JuCo for two years. It provided me time to mature and grow as an individual in a much smaller setting than what you would find at four year university.
Like BCCC said, I am the coach at Colby Community College in Colby, KS. However, there are many other quality programs out there. Take a good look around and be sure to ask any questions you have. Hope this has been of some help to you. Let me know if I can answer anything else for you.
Jim Latoski
Livestock Judging Coach/Animal Science Instructo
Colby Community College
Colby, KS