ANST - laurels competing

[Bowen]

Philippa Rookhaven wrote: (I am sorry I didn't identify myself when I first
posted this. I hit send before I realized I hadn't signed it!)
> 
> >
> > It seems to me that there are enough A&S competitions around so that there can
> > be a variety of kinds of competitions. Laurels should certainly have
> > opportunities to compete, and there must be competitions open to them.
> > However, we do need to recognize that newer artisans may never get started if
> > they feel that Laurels will always win every competition. (Whether this is
> > true or not, that perception will remain because of human nature.) Therefore,
> > we need both kinds. We can have them at different events, or we can have
> > multiple competitions at the same event. We run simultaneous chivalric and
> > light lists, we should be able to run a couple of A&S competitions at the same
> > time. Even if there is only one competition, it is easy enough to give a prize
> > for best first-time entrant and to give word fame or small prizes to
> > outstanding non-winning entries.
> > 
> 
> Alrek here,
> I disagree with some of your statements.
> Having competition at a higher level of skill is what makes us achieve
> more.  You don't practice fighting someone of lower skill than you to
> get better, you practice with someone with better skill.  There are some
> newcomer lists on the tourney field but most fighters are thrown
> together no matter what their skill.  Newer fighters do not drop out of
> Steppes Warlord because they don't think they will win,  Newer ofiicers
> do not drop out because they think that someone can do their office
> better, everyone does the best they can and they LEARN to do better the
> next time.  If you want an even field it just does not happen.  As a
> fighter if I want a Glaive melee so I dont have to put up with those
> pesky Dukes that only fight sword and shield to better my chances of
> winning, Daffyd or Gunther or Kein will still show up just they can beat
> me with a glaive.  It makes me fight harder with a glaive because they
> are there.  No one has said that a newcomers A&S could not be at any
> event.  Also you could try a "Weaving A&S Competition", or an
> "Illumination A&S Competition", or an A&S comp. for peoples first
> projects in a field, or Challenge would-be-competitors to learn a new
> A&S skill and give references where they learned it and make a project
> using their new skill.
> 
> That was long and I am sorry for it.  What I mean is no matter what
> there is someone better than everyone.  If you want a chance to win you
> have to work for it, not limit who plays.  As a fighter and artisan I
> know who is better than me in what areas, if I want to beat them on the
> field I fight them in practice to gain the skill.  If I want to beat an
> artist in my field of art I would talk to them about their techniques
> and how they did their documentation or their displays and learn to get
> better.
> 
> That was almost four cents
> Alrek

Ah, yes, but a new fighter doesn't hit the tourney field until he or she has
attended quite a few fighter practices, and had plenty of critique from
experienced fighters already. An artisan doesn't get that chance. The only way
to get experience and critique is to enter a competition. 
Also, many fighters don't choose to enter crown tourney as their first
tournament event. They choose a smaller tourney where they might hope to get
past the first round.
Of course, an artisan will want to compete with people who are better than
they are. We all know that that is how we grow and develop. But what is wrong
with having an occasional competition that is newcomer-friendly to help new
artisans get their feet wet. Then once they have learned how SCA competition
works (what kind of documentation is expected, how to present your work, what
judging forms look like, etc.), they should be more eager to compete in any
other events that come along.
This seems to me to be a better solution than expecting Laurels to not enter
most competitions to keep from intimidating people.

Pippa
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