[SCA-AE] Thoughts on Crown Tourneys

[Aengus]

Greetings unto all who read these words from Aengus MacBain. 

By the grace of Maynard and Christina, I am a Knight. By the Grace of Christopher and Morgen I am a Laurel. By the grace of my lady, Maitresse Yvianne de Castel d’Avignon, I am a fighter. I doubt that there are many in this Kingdom who do not know me or know of me ;-)

I have been fighting for the honor of milady wife in Coronet and Crown tournaments for many years now. Our first was a Coronet Tourney of Morguhn and Meirwen. I had been authorized as a heavy fighter for less than 6 months. To this day, even with my old brain, I can still see Viscount Bear backpedaling around the list as I was throwing 'the kitchen sink' at him during our bout (He killed me).

Over the years, Yvianne and I both have noticed that the lines for the introductions of the couples to the Royals that normally take place at Crown have grown progressively smaller. More importantly, the members of the populace who have not yet achieved a grant level fighting award seem to have disappeared from the Crown lists altogether. This is a sad thing. I believe that we should be concentrating on trying to come up with ways to encourage the new and/or intermediate fighters to fight in Crown. To that end, I feel that any Crown specific restriction can be problematic, regardless of good intent.

We all know that those who compete in Crown are expected to be prepared to win. Realistically, how does that differ from any other Tournament? Do any of us enter a Tourney with the intent to lose, or maybe come in 3rd? Back in the days of my youth in the fighting community, my desire to win was unmatched by my fighting skills. We all have to start somewhere. I knew that there was a snowballs chance in the campfire that we would walk away victorious, but there was always that chance. In those days, I was inspired by the Dukes, Counts, Viscounts and Knights. Today, having achieved knighthood, I find myself being inspired by the newer fighters. Those who have that "fire in the belly" so often referred to, or those who just have a love for fighting. There are a number of these fighters out there, and I think if we encourage more of these fighters to put in letters for Crown, the Kingdom would benefit overall. 

Regards, 
Aengus