[Coastal] Tuesday chivalric fighter practice

[Jerry]

Hail fellow Chivalric/Armored Combatants and combat enthusiasts,

   Recently Michael of Gravesend penned:
"... Breaking up the Tuesday night practice at UoH is not a good idea. There
are folks who travel just as far from the north from the west.. east.. .. if
not farther for that practice than the loch folks.  There are folks who
travel from spring  to hit that practice, not all the time.. but they do.
...   I would suggest staying at the university and putting yourself in a
location that gives you a great deal of visbility. ...Visibility in my
opinon is is 2nd only to whom you are trying to recruit. ... location
location location and target the age group."

    While the Baron William Wescot of Welewen opined:
"...   This announcement was not made in haste....joint practices the last
several months... Fighters have been from Loch Soilleir.  The last several
Practices, per the information I have been given, consisted only of
Chivalric Fighters from the Loch."

Arthur Morganson here.

Michael asks a few key questions, but the answers may not be the ones
provided.

One such question is "Who are we trying to recruit?"  Commuter students
working jobs AND going to school or folks with weekends free and time and
money to engage in our pleasant pastime?  If we feel that college students
are our true target market for new SCA members, then our recruiting goals
need to be refocused to provide on campus visibility at not only UH, but the
other residential colleges and universities of our Bayou City.

Is that really the case.  When we get new members that actively participate
here very often I hear, "We dabbled in the SCA in college, but now we have
jobs that let us play."

But on the other hand, if we're looking for those with resources of time,
money and inclination, where can we draw such a crowd?

When I joined, like many others,  it was from driving around looking for
"something."  That something was in plain sight of a main road in the middle
of Houston on a Sunday afternoon. I had time, I had disposable income, I had
interest in something that took me out of the 20th Century grind for the
weekend.

Michael also commented on location.  UH is nice for Houston. In the
daytime.  Ask Michael Silverhands about the UH area on fighter practice
nights.  Good citizens of Houston don't travel to UH at night without a good
reason.  Like a winning basketball game or a graduation.  Otherwise it's one
of those neighborhoods that folks with common sense say, "Hey, maybe I
*won't* travel though this area at night."

Baron William correctly noted that the UH practices were overflowing with
Loch members but scarce on Stargaters.  Just a week ago, yours truly dropped
by the Tuesday night fighter site to find.... no one.  And that's not
surprising.  The members of the Loch potentially pull from Galveston, Texas
City, Pearland, etc.  Why have them drive to the big city all the way inside
the loop?

So where do fighters come from?  Sir Alexis is seeking that data to turn
into information on the lists even now.  Let's expand that to who's been
coming to the Sunday Stargate practices and Tournaments.

>From the Stargate:
Arthur, Lindale Park 610 at the Hardy Toll Road (middle of town)
Michael of Redhue, Sagemont B-8 at Gulf Fwy (south)
Mikolai Haiduk
Sir Godwin of Eddington, Spring Shadows B-8 and Hammerly (west)
Don Robert
Thomas Attewoode
Kristrodr Bjarnarson, Oak Forest TC Jester at 34th (northwest)
Collwyn O'Snowden, Greatwood Plantation Crabb River Road at SW Fwy (far
southwest)**
Askell de Loucelles, Meyerland Braeswood and Fondren (southwest)

>From the Loch:
Wissa
Drake
Alexis
William

Wow!  What a variety of fighters from a variety of directions around
Houston.  And I'm sure that I've missed somebody important, just forgive me
now.  That's not counting a Regional KM in the Spring/Tomball area.  So
where could all these folks meet that has parking, lights, very accessible
restrooms, shade, public visibility, centrally located?  Our Societal
forefathers already wrestled with this issue, they chose Memorial Park.
Only when the Crestwood corner lose its parking to barricades did
powers-that-be look for an alternative site.

Here's my proposed solution...

Come to Sunday Fighter Practice in Memorial Park.  If you want more
fighting, follow the Clearlake commuters down to FM 2351(just a scant 18
mile farther down I-45) for the Loch's Tuesday night practice.  Give then
the courtesy of supplementing *their* fighter practice just as they have
done for us for years.

In Service to Baron and King,

Arthur Morganson
Stargate Knight Marshal
*   Train to get it right, practice to make it permanent*
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