When people think of sports, a laundry list of obvious come to mind – football, baseball, basket-ball, golf. But for a group of students there is a little known sport that is bringing in scholarship offers to some as early as their freshmen year.

Livestock judging, which falls under rodeo and other agricultural related sports is the “unknown” sport of Gordon Central High School.

The returned earlier this month from Minnesota, where Spam hosted a competition. Drew Thorn-ton, a senior this year, tied for second out of more than 200 individuals and the Gordon Central team placed sixth out of 49 teams.

“In the last three years, everyone one of our members who went to college (and pursued livestock judging), went on a scholarship,” said Melissa Hubbard, advisor to the group. Her son, Timothy, a freshmen, has already received scholarship offers. There are at least five on full scholarships at the moment, she said. She, along with Lee Crump, a parent volunteer, are helping get the team ready for regional competitions in Perry.

Livestock judging scores various animals, usually cattle, pigs, and sheep based on different fac-tors. The factors vary depending on if they are classified as breeding stock or market stock. For market stock, animals are judged according to size – bigger isn’t always better – and how well devel-oped they are in the areas that will later become cuts of meat. Most of it is conformation – body, balance, and proportions. For breeders – all are females – they look at how large their center is, width, and muscles.

For example, pigs are judged based on ribs, tenderloins, and ham areas.

“Big is good, but too big means there’s a lot of fat and that would be waste,” said Hubbard. For farmers, it’s important to know because they need animals who are efficient – can produce offspring, or meat, without wasted effort.

Students do not have to touch the animals. Teams stand along the ring fence as four animals, all numbered come in. It is both a team and individual sport. Team points are a total of each members score. Students earn, or lose points, on how they rank the four animals brought in.

The hard part comes when students have to defend their ranking to the judges.

“There’s a certain way it has to be done,” Hubbard said.

Timothy demonstrated, comparing each animal to the other using the vernacular and rhythm no unlike an auctioneer. It’s called “talking reasons,” and is the most stressful part of the process.

“It’s possible to not have the same rank as the judges, but if you can defend your logic, you still get points,” Hubbard said.

It’s a type of exporaneous speaking. The first student to defend their ranking may only have 20 minutes to prepare reason for four sets of animals, without using notes. That’s keeping up with the pros and cons of 16 different animals. Judges not only score based on reasons, but deliver including flow and grammar.

“It’s a mind game,” said Hubbard.

But the experience and the opportunities more than make up for the heat of competition.

“These kids make industry contacts early, they get to travel,” said Hubbard. “You can’t put a price tag on that.

“We learn public speaking and how to make a decision,” said Timothy. “Those aren’t always taught in the classroom.”

But while full ride scholarships and industry contacts sounds good, there are avenues for those who don’t want to work in the agricultural industry. Hubbard said they have students pursuing law degrees and in medical school after paying for the undergraduate degree with livestock judging.

As far as experience, Hubbard said students who are interested do not need any. Owning animals is not required and they teach the students what to look for. Hubbard said they are always looking for new team members.

“They catch on pretty quick,” she said. It’s the talking reasons and the management testing that is more difficult. For management testing, there are 500 questions of which, students answer 25 about animal health, care, breeding, and nutrition.

Although coaches help them practice, once the competition starts and the team members see the animals, the coaches aren’t allow to speak to them.

“It’s not like other sports, where the coach calls them over and gives them advice or encourage-ment,” said Hubbard. “They’re on their own.”

Travel is their biggest expense. The team competes all over Georgia, but also travels for national competitions, like the one recently held in Minnesota. The University of Oklahoma – where livestock judges are their most sought after graduates—hosts a weeklong camp every year to help junior judges hone their skills.

Because they get no school funding, fundraisers provide financial help. And Gordon Central’s FFA group puts the fun into fundraising. For $20, the group will place a toilet – painted in the fa-mous FFA blue and gold – on someone’s lawn. Then, of course, October will bring the Haunted Corn Maze to Little River Farms in Resaca.

Right now, they are preparing for regionals and try to frequently visit farms that volunteer their animals for practice. If they win there, they will advance to nationals and have the chance to travel to Scotland for an international competition.

“I think we’ve got a good chance,” said Thornton, vice president for GC’s FFA.

“The kids are hungry,” said Hubbard.