What can YOU Do To Support JS?

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Junior Showmanship (JS) is a CFA program designed to give young people aged 8 to 15 the opportunity to participate in an educational competition focusing on the pedigreed cat.

The program is designed to foster knowledge of CFA pedigreed cats and their written standard, general feline health considerations, grooming and care of the cat, as well as to develop qualities such as self-confidence and sportsmanship in young people.

What can I do personally to Support the JS program?

Obviously if you are a parent, you can encourage and support your child in the JS classes. But what about if you are not a parent of a child between 8 and 15 years old?

Bailey Monroe, a Senior, watches as judge Kathy Black handles her Aby kitten. The judge must handle the Junior's cat to evaluate how well the Junior presents their cats strengths and weaknesses

"The children are our future" may be a hackneyed phrase but it carries a great deal of truth.

Via the JS program, kids are being groomed to be the next generation of CFA breeders, exhibitors and even judges.

With show counts going down, Kitten Registrations down, and with participation dropping from us "older" folks, it is obvious that the cat fancy is aging.

We need to bring new and younger blood into the cat fancy. We need to encourage young people to participate. And we need to attract young people away from a lot of other splashy MTV-type options that compete for their spare time and entertainment dollar.

The JS program seems a perfect avenue for attracting young people to the cat fancy.

The kids are encouraged and educated and have concrete goals to strive for. If you are not a parent, there is still much you can do to contribute:

encourage your club to sponsor a JS ring.
offer a cat to a Junior to use in the JS program.
Be sure to attend the JS ring at the show... and applaud!! Cheer! Everyone!!!
Mentor a JS. They need to learn about all breeds. This is your opportunity to teach a possible future judge how YOU think your breed should be evaluated!!!
Ask the parents of a JS if you can lend support to their child's JS efforts - maybe you can offer to take the child to a show or to handle your breed or watch you groom. The list of ways you can contribute is endless.
Sponsor a JS! Offer to pay their entry fees :-) Take them under your wing!
set a good example of sportsmanship and fair play.

Erica Burnett presents her
Japanese Bobtail to the judge

Remember, The JS program is still very young. It needs to be nurtured just like any newborn!

Novice participant, Amanda Dunham, showing her cat Britzohoney Big Mac,
a 3 year-old neuter British SH.

It was just 2 years ago that the first JS classes were held in April 1999 in Florida and Staten Island.

Since that modest beginning such a short time ago, JS classes have been held in most regions across the country.

With corporate sponsorship provided by Friskies, the top Open, Junior and Senior in Junior Showmanship will receive an all expense paid trip to the CFA International show in Houston in November 2001!

If each individual in the cat fancy steps forward and tries to contribute to the JS program in even the smallest way, we will all benefit.

We may not each have a child who can participate, but we all have a stake in what may happen to the cat fancy when we "retire".

Making sure that when we pass the torch, there will be strong, capable hands to carry CFA forward into the future is part of the goals of the Junior Showmanship program.