ANST - water bearers

[Michael Tucker]

Hi, Gwynneth:

I'm sorry your daughter (and you) were frustrated this weekend. It's
disappointing to get fired up to do something, and then be told that you can't.

It boils down to safety. Under the new Marshalate Handbook, *nobody* - not
waterbearers, heralds, chirurgeons, fighters, or marshals - is allowed on an
"active" field without at least a non-contact authorization card. An "active"
field is one with marshals present, at which fighting could (presumably) start
at any minute even if they aren't fighting right now. If there are no marshals
on the field, fighting cannot take place, and presumably anyone could "visit"
the field.

You *can* still waterbear quite effectively at most tournaments, even without an
authorization card. Just circle the list field without entering the field, going
around to folks in their pavillions or as they are leaving the field. This is,
of course, harder to accomplish at a melee where the "field" is much larger and
more poorly defined. In that case, you just have to wait with the other
non-combatants at the edge of the field, and try to catch the fighters as they
enter/leave the field. You could also, presumably, talk to the marshal in charge
about declaring breaks specifically for non-combatants to enter the field.

I hope this helps!

If you have more questions, please check out the online Marshal's Handbook at
<http://www.ansteorra.org/publications/forms/participants.pdf> (Adobe PDF) or
<http://lonestar.texas.net/~catsden/PartHbk/> (HTML).

Yours,
Michael Silverhands

Mike Young wrote:
> 
> I guess I live under a rock but I've been playing SCA 15 years and I didn't
> realize that no one under 16 can be authorized to be a water bearer.  I
> didn't even realize you had to be authorized.  Since water bearers can't go
> on a field without a hold, why do we have these rules exactly?  I mean, I'm
> sure there's a reason and I'm just missing it but my 10 year old wanted to
> be a water bearer at Melees this weekend and I felt inadequate when she
> asked me why she couldn't.  I told her we had to follow the rules but I
> couldn't answer her when she asked me why it WAS a rule.
> thanks,
> gwyneth
>
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.