[Ansteorra-archery] the future??

[phocas at anderson-studio.com]

Well said HL Eadric Anstapa!  

   I've read through all this, and believe Eadric make may very good and
accurate points here.  A Titled Champion is that- A Titled Champion and not
just the best shooter or the shooter that had a really good day.  To carry a
groups title is an honor and privilege that also carries responsibilities.
Some good points were also made to what should or shouldn't be expected of a
Champion by a Barony that I plan to pass on to my B&B, specially that our
barony makes clear, well in advance, what is expected of one of our
Champions.  We will also be discussing Bordermarch's expectations of our
Champions to run the Championship the following year, at our next officers
meeting. :-) 

 

In Service,

Lord Phocas of Bordermarch

 

  _____  

From: ansteorra-archery-bounces+phocas=anderson-studio.com at ansteorra.org
[mailto:ansteorra-archery-bounces+phocas=anderson-studio.com at ansteorra.org]
On Behalf Of Eadric Anstapa
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 3:50 PM
To: Archery within the Kingdom of Ansteorra
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra-archery] the future??

 

When to go to an event and compete in an archery tournament you always do
your and and shoot your best.   However, I think that sometimes doing your
best can mean deciding not to shoot anymore and stepping aside so that an
archer who can better serve as champion will be proclaimed champion.

It does a noble no good to have the best archer in the world as his champion
if that champion can not or will not fullfil the duties of the office.  When
a person shoots and wins a championship tournament and is never seen again,
or poorly fullfills the duties of the office it hurts us all.

When you travel to a championship tournament you should expect that if you
win there will be certain obligations that you will be honor bound to
fulfill.  Those obligations vary from one group to another.  If the demands
that will be placed on the champion have not been spelled out in advance and
you think that there is a chance that you will not be able to meet those
demands then call or email someone and ask.  Every Kingdom Calendar event
must have an event announcement and that event announcement must have
contact information provided.  Before you leave home you have the
opportunity to contact the event sponsors and ask what demands they place on
their champions.  

Lord Alden mentioned earlier that while he currently holds a a title from
the Loch he would in December like to seek a similar title from Stargate and
that he intends to in advance consult with the nobles from each group to
make sure that is acceptable to them.  I applaud Alden for his approach and
foresight.

I think the Carolingian approach of requiring that the champion be a
Carolingian to be a bit odd.  However it is their tournament and they have
made these requirements so well and widely known that we are even talking
about it here in Ansteorra so I dont see big a problem.  Arthur, dont waste
your gas money and time driving to Carolingia cause they wont allow you to
be champion.

The barons request that that his champion not have divided loyalties, that
they try their best to attend the Carolingian events, and all the rest are I
think perfectly acceptable requirements and a perfectly acceptable set of
duties for a Baronial Champion with one exception.  Moreover I think they
should be a pretty NORMAL set of expected duties for a champion and exactly
what I expect with the one exception.

A few weeks ago Fergus d'Onray and I were discussing what Gate's Edge
required of our Champions and I basically said,  attend our events if you
can, represent Gates Edge well and make sure that you bring us no dishonor,
display our banner with pride wherever you go, when Gates Edge needs a
champion to shoot for us in other competitions stand ready to do so, shoot
or fight with our shire and not against us, come back next year and help to
test the people seeking to replace you and defend the title as best you can.
Is any of that abnormal?

We dont ask that our champions organize, run, and provide for our tournament
for the next year because we think that is wrong.  The champion may not have
archery range equipment, may not be a marshal, and shouldn't be asked to
cough up prizes out of his own pocket for next years tournament.  We sorta
feel that if as a branch we can not internally support and host a good
championship tournament then we have no business holding one in the first
place.

I think archers and archery will get more respect if the community takes
these things more seriously.  Look how seriously the Rapier Community takes
their responsibility to the Queen and Princess.  To have the Queen at an
event without her Champion nearby or a Don standing in in nearly
unthinkable.  I assure you that there a plenty of rapier fighters who have
not won queens champion or other championship tournaments, not because they
could not have won on that day, but simply because they did not think they
could serve as needed.   

To have a our Princess at an event without a Cadet there to serve her is
becoming equally unthinkable.  These cadets serving the princess have not
won any tournament that obligated them to such service, they simply but on a
red scarf and with that action obligated themselves to doing what is
necessary to make the rapier community stronger.

Look how seriously the typical rapier fighter takes his/her responsibility
as a champion and how seriously the leaders in the rapier community take
their service to noble ladies of this kingdom.  Please consider that is a
large reason why the Queen and Noble ladies of this Kingdom pay such
attention to those people and why that community gets the respect that it
does. 

I think we can all help the archery community of we make sure that when we
hold Baronial Championships we make sure that the Nobles know that they can
count on their champions.  Moreover I think the champions need to be there
helping even if unbidden.

We can have lots of tournaments that are not championship tournaments.
These can be held before or after the champion tournaments at events, at
events where champion tournaments are not being held, at local fighter
practices, etc.  Just get out and do it.

Yes nobles and branches may need to pay more attention to their archery
championships.  But if their archery champions aren't going to be meaningful
for them then why should they?  WE can make the office of archery champion
meaningful by our exemplary actions as champions.

Some branches do a good job with their champions.  The nobles spend time at
the archery range, they make sure that at ANY event the B&B attend that
their champions have their hospitality, shade, water, and lunch.  The make
sure that the champion has nice regalia and good keeper prizes as payment
for their service as champion.  They make sure that they keep published
their lists of champions and that they send them a complementary
subscription to the branch newsletter and they waive site or feast fees for
their champions at local events when possible.  None of these are unheard of
or even uncommon in some areas of the kingdom.  Encourage your branch to do
as much  of same as makes sense locally.

In short I think that having a strong set of of requirements and
responsibilities for a Champion is a good thing because it shows that the
group takes pride in those positions and pays attention to them.


Always in Service,

-- 
HL Eadric Anstapa
DSEM CA
 <mailto:eadric at scabrewer.com> eadric at scabrewer.com 

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