Latiniva. I would think very carefully about this one. If you become a judge, is it going to be a lasting thing. Will you still be wanted as a judge in ten years time. If during that time you met somebody who would make a good partner you can only dance as a professional or socially. If I were about 50 years old maybe, At 25 I don't think so .
You appear to have a different system where you live than here. Here I don't know of any judge who was not a competitor with several years experience at competing. But if you feel that is the way you would like to go then. Good Luck.

You're right Quickstep, but in my country latin and ballroom dancing is still weak, and the federation is trying to improve the competitions, schools, workshops... that's why they are choosing young qualified teachers and students to train them to become judges or competitors by sending them abroad to train and bringing some professional dancers and judges to train them. Anyways i thank you for your opinion and i will talk to my teacher to see what to do , i have to choose between these 2 things

Hi Latindiva
Here are my views on this.
Once you become a serious judge, it will be hard for you to ever compete again, because you will be 'one of the judges' in the eyes of the competitors and you will be seen as having an advantage.
Also, think of this: If your federation is trying to promote dancing and competitions, the last thing i would have thought they'd need is one of their good dancers giving up competing. You don't have a partner at the moment, but you may have in a year or two. I'm sure everyone here sincerely hopes it's sooner than that.
You can encourage youngsters in schools or whatever by being a trained teacher and using your competition dancing knowledge in that way.
God forbid you would ever have to stop dancing through injury. But if you did, THEN be a judge.

Latindiva,

Have you danced championship level ballroom or latin?

Rha

hi everyone! thank you for ur help.
Rha, when i started dancing i trained with my ex partner, and we competed in some inter-schools championships, we won several times in latin and ballroomm dancing. But now since i moved to that new school, i don't have a partner, but i'm still training hardly to improve my skills. I spoke yesterday with my teacher and told him i like to compete, he suggested i start training with my fiance (who actually used to dance before but stopped for work purposes), and suggested that for now i strat with the judge training and in 2 years i might quit judging and turn into competitions. I felt somehow releaved and agreed with my fiance to start training seriously. For now i'm waiting for the federation to call me for a meeting.
Anyways i will keep you all in touch with what will happen because i feel that this forum is helping me a lot to find answers to my questions.

Hi Latindiva,

I don't think you understood the question because you have not answered it. Let's leave it there.

Regards,
Rha

Rha of course i danced championship level with my ex partner, and now i'm doing a professional training but without having a serious partner.

"Have you danced championship level ballroom or latin?"

While ballroom has traditionally used retired top-level competitors as judges, that is not the case in some other sports. Skating for example uses "classroom trained" observers who were not particularly distinguished competitors if ever even competitors at all. Some feel that this reduces the conflict of interest, since such people would not be also teaching competitors.

It seems like diva may be somewhere where an effort is being made to create a cardre of non-ex-champion trained judges. While the concerns about loosing the best years of ones comeptitive life are real, I wouldn't read a requirement for the usual pre-judging experience into this quite different program.

Latin Diva. One thing that seems to have been forgotten is that you could at a later stage dance Pro Am. Maybe with your then husband. Good Luck.

Latin Diva,
My old boss was a 5 time national Foxtrot Champion. He decided to open a studio 25yrs. ago. He became a judge. A few years ago while training a student to do a lift, she landed it wrong and destroyed his knee. He is now 51 yrs. old, and Judging became his livelyhood. He still owns the studio and trys to teach as much as possible, but the fact that he was a certified judge more then payed the bills while he was injured.