[Ansteorra-archery] Royal Rounds at Events

Tue Apr 16 11:22:42 PDT 2013

Greetings Archers,

I haven't been active for a while due to other obligations, but I'd like to offer my perspective and perhaps an idea or two. 

Space is always an issue for archery events.  We either have to be way out of the center of activity if we want to "keep to our own schedule," or be willing to be boxed into the time frames of other events if we want to be right in the mix of things.  Many sites, including Castleton where I have run/helped run several events, barely have enough room to adhere to safety protocols. While I'd love to see more of our archers on the RR list, I would prefer not to have to shoot a short course and enter zeroes just to get on the list.  I don't think that represents us in the best light.  

Archery tournaments, by their very nature, take up a lot of time.  In the best of situations, it's nearly impossible to attend an event as an archer, and still have time to participate in or spectate events on the rest of the site. Court may very well be the first time during the day we get to mingle with everyone else.  

Despite our best attempts at trying to format tourneys designed to integrate players from other venues, it seems that many players are NOT trying to be jacks of all trades. They attend to fight, or fence, or shoot, or socialize -- but don't try to do it all in one day. In BG we've offered RR on Sunday mornings and no one showed up. Let's face it, after the crush of the day that Saturday always is, who has anything left to give on Sunday, other than clearing site and getting home to crash.

I think one of our problems is that the events where you are most likely to find archery are "all or nothing" outdoor events that include every form of mayhem we offer in the SCA.  Not all Society events are like this, though.  There are events specifically for A&S, Kings College, dance, feasts, etc. 

Why not offer more events that are strictly archery events?  I know the calendar is very full already, but this could have several advantages:

1. Ranges and range spaces are available that, while adequate for archery and RR, wouldn't have to accommodate every manner of pavilion, yurt, horse trailer, and parking that a full event does.  Since the draw would be mainly for archers, perhaps only a portion of a site would need to be reserved, rather than an entire park.  

2.  Scheduling would be easier as all the other site events wouldn't have to be coordinated around each other. 

3.  Participation could be increased since players wouldn't have to choose between myriad activities all in one day.

4.  Event could offer workshops on arrow-building, bow making, shooting techniques and lessons, etc.

Just my two cents,

Katherine
Former Branch Marshal of Bryn Gwlad

"I love deadlines.  I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -- Douglas Adams 

________________________________
 From: Doug Copley <doug.copley at gmail.com>
To: Archery within the Kingdom of Ansteorra <ansteorra-archery at lists.ansteorra.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 11:43 AM
Subject: [Ansteorra-archery] Royal Rounds at Events

Not as many being shot: Why?

Several years ago I remember going to an event shooting Archery, doing thrown weapons, having fun. In the evening we would go to Court and people would say "Oh, did you you guys just get here?" they would announce the Archery Champion and people would say "There was Archery?" 

This was all because we were put as far away from everything as possible. Another problem with this was that we would rarely get waterbearing support, when we put people in for awards people would say who are they and why don't they come to events? 

Over the last several years we have worked to move Archery and Thrown Weapons closer to the main activities and Archers are now being seen and recognized.

Now the problem is that since we are up at the front we can't setup the range and leave it operating all day. We are being given a 2 hour time frame for adult and 1 hour for children's shoots.

We have to be aware of the site layout and the schedule of activities. Would it be nice to have more Royal Rounds shot . . . Absolutely!  Now we just have to figure out how:-)

Maybe moving the range back away from the main center just a little bit (will this hurt what we have accomplished?)? Allowing some time early Sunday morning, 9am to 11am? Accepting, that we will not always be able to shoot RRs at events? 

Vincenti 
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