Amtgard vs. the SCA (was:Re: ANST - How to involve young folk)

[Mary Temple]

>Ampgard is killing us out here on recruiting the teenagers.  Is this
>happening other places?  Their whole group is basically young and
>enthusiastic.  They can fight and feel lots of ownership in their 
group.  I
>think we, as a whole, are really letting our teenagers down when it 
comes to
>finding, holding, and doing things to get and keep them involved.  
Opinions
>anyone?
>
Where are you?

I was sidetracked into Amtgard on my way to the SCA. My first exposure 
to the SCA was in Greater Cincinnati. I walked in to one of my college's 
buildings and found a bunch of strangely dressed people talking about 
Medieval things. My first thought was: who ARE these weirdos? My second: 
How do I get involved? I literally grabbed someone walking by and asked 
for information. I came away with such a positive impression that when I 
actually moved down here (Bryn Gwlad), I immediately starting asking for 
contacts. Several friends told me: you don't want to go to the SCA, 
they're all lying, vicious, nasty people. Amtgard is a close-knit group 
of family. Well, after two years of Amtgard, I realized that what they 
had said about the SCA was actually closer to how Amtgard acted. So I 
decided to "make the leap". I've yet to go back. It's funny, when I was 
in Amtgard, people talked about others "coming down from the SCA" and 
people "moving up to the SCA", despite all the negatives they spouted 
about the SCA.

Anyhow, the way I see it now is this: when they're kids, they go to 
Amtgard. When they're ready to play with the "grown-ups", they come to 
the SCA. Some are ready sooner, some are never ready. Your Mileage May 
Vary, believe me. I have a couple of friends who have some very 
disparaging opinions of Amtgard, at least locally, but I won't post 
those publicly.

Catriona Rowley
Bryn Gwlad, Anstorra

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.