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<span>From a group infrastructure standpoint, I feel that youth combat is an exceptionally fertile ground. I know from my own experience as a boyscout and as a middle school child that I would have *loved* if someone had come to my school or boy scout troop and let me know that this activity existed and that I could potentialy partcipate in it.</span>
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<span>It would seem that this would be a great thing to have on the shelf as a baronial resource (and I notice that hockey pads and helmets are all like $5 each at Recycle Ann Arbor), since getting kids at this age would likey expose our activity to their entire peer group. </span>
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<span>(Wouldnt it be neat if we had like half of a highschool football team on the field at Pennsic?) </span>
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<span>To put my money were my mouth is, I'm willing to be a youth marshall and I can certianly pass a background check.</span>
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<span>Cheers,</span>
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<span>Hjorleif </span>
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On November 16, 2011 at 7:57 PM Randy Asplund <randyasplund@comcast.net> wrote:
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<br/>
> Oh, I forgot to mention- Actually, I believe that Ld. Arnold is a
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> Youth Fencing Marshal, so I am not the only Youth Marshal.
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>
<br/>
> I'm writing from Craft Night and there is a little talk going on right
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> now posing the question of wether the group might like to add a
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> Minister of Youth so we could have someone who can help coordinate
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> activities for the children of the Barony.
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>
<br/>
> Just food for thought (to go with the pizza we just had and the home-
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> made apple pie & ice cream we are about to have...)
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>
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> RanthulfR
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>
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> On Nov 16, 2011, at 4:40 PM, Greg Less wrote:
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>
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> > Before we get to far down this path of buying and prepping... do we
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> > actually have any youth that are interested in fighting, are in the
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> > same age division as other youths and have parents that are willing
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> > to commit to making sure we have critical mass? Furthermore, the
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> > barony has exactly one authorized youth marshal. The authorization
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> > process, not to mention the background check, make the prospect of
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> > us getting more seem slim at best.
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> >
<br/>
> > So, I guess my question is - why are we considering this and who
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> > plans on supporting?
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> >
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> > Thanks,
<br/>
> > -Gregoire.
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> >
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> > On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 4:36 PM, Randy Asplund <randyasplund@comcast.net
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> > > wrote:
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> > Actually, I was just out at Share House on Jackson d. the other day
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> > and they had a lot of hockey helmets and other stuff for CHEAP.
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> >
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> > RanthulfR
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> >
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> >
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> > On Nov 16, 2011, at 4:03 PM, andrew@prometheusmotionpictures.com
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> > wrote:
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> >
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> >> Recycle Ann Arbor has youth hockey helmets (usually 2 or 3) on the
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> >> shelf nearly everytime I go there. Hockey pants and elbow and knee
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> >> pads as well.
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> >>
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> >> I'm not in a position right now to volunteer for anything, but in
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> >> the future I would be interested in getting a youth combat
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> >> authorization / marshalette. I've already been background checked
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> >> to death from working at CPS, and would certainly be willing to do
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> >> it again.
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> >>
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> >> Best,
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> >> Hjorleif
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> >>
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> >>
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> >> On November 16, 2011 at 3:27 PM Randy Asplund <randyasplund@comcast.net
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> >> > wrote:
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> >>
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> >> > Unto the members of the Barony, Greetings from Sir RanthulfR, Youth
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> >> > Marshal, etc.
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> >> >
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> >> > At our last Baronial meeting we had a discussion about promoting
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> >> Youth
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> >> > fighting in both boffer and rapier in Cynnabar. I volunteered to
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> >> write
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> >> > to Lord Nylas Kazmer, the Kingdom & Pentamere officer responsible
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> >> for
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> >> > Youth Combat, and ask his advice. The following is my letter to
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> >> him
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> >> > and his reply back (posted with permission). I am forwarding it
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> >> to you
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> >> > all because it is a bit much for reporting at a meeting, and it
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> >> > affects many who are not regular at the meetings.
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> >> >
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> >> >
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> >> >
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> >> > > On Nov 14, 2011, at 9:34 PM, Randy Asplund wrote:
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> >> > >
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> >> > >> Hi Kazmer,
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> >> > >>
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> >> > >> This is a scoping out kind of letter. I just got back from the
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> >> > >> Cynnabar weekly business meeting. The subject of demos for boy
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> >> > >> scouts came up. I suggested that we talk to youth fighters in
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> >> the
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> >> > >> area and see if any wanted to be in a demo for kids close to
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> >> their
<br/>
> >> > >> age. That inspired a long discussion about what we could do to
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> >> get
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> >> > >> youth fighting going here.
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> >> > >>
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> >> > >> We all recognize that we have parents bring kids around every
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> >> once
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> >> > >> in a while, the kids are enthused, but we have no loaner gear
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> >> or
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> >> > >> youth of the right age/size for them to spar with. The people
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> >> at
<br/>
> >> > >> the meeting all want to have the barony be ready to provide
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> >> youth
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> >> > >> fighting, but we just don't seem to have the youth critical
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> >> mass to
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> >> > >> accomplish it.
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> >> > >>
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> >> > >> I suggested that we point parents to the materials online so
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> >> they
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> >> > >> could become familiar with armor & weapon standards and learn
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> >> the
<br/>
> >> > >> rules. Then we would send them to the larger youth practices
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> >> when
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> >> > >> they are held out near Detroit. My thought being that once we
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> >> had a
<br/>
> >> > >> few doing that, we wold gain the critical mass locally to pt it
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> >> > >> together here with regularity.
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> >> > >>
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> >> > >> The concern expressed by the others was that once they went
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> >> out to
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> >> > >> Detroit, -if indeed the parents could be talked into that drive-
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> >> > >> they wold keep going there instead of settling here, even after
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> >> > >> local opponents were found.
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> >> > >>
<br/>
> >> > >> I asked if they would like me to write to you to see if you
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> >> might
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> >> > >> have some helpful suggestions on how to get our group "over the
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> >> > >> hump" so to speak.
<br/>
> >> > >>
<br/>
> >> > SNIP
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> >> > >> Have you any advice or thoughts on it?
<br/>
> >> > >>
<br/>
> >> > >> RanthulfR
<br/>
> >> > >>
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> >> >
<br/>
> >> > On Nov 16, 2011, at 12:34 PM, Lord Kazmer wrote:
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> >> >
<br/>
> >> > Sir RanthulfR,
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> >> >
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> >> > Achieving a “critical mass” is always the problem with youth
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> >> combat.
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> >> > Nothing is more frustrating for the kids than not having anyone to
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> >> > play with. One of the reasons that youth combat has been
<br/>
> >> successful
<br/>
> >> > at the Roaring Waste practice is that we draw from several
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> >> groups. No
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> >> > one group usually has enough kids for a viable practice but by
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> >> drawing
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> >> > on the surrounding groups the critical mass can be achieved. The
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> >> > Roaring Waste practice is really a regional practice and by
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> >> holding it
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> >> > once a month we can sort of concentrate participation. There is a
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> >> > limit to how far parents will drive though, probably less than an
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> >> hour.
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> >> >
<br/>
> >> > Some of the marshals in Andelcrag are trying to get a Baronial
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> >> youth
<br/>
> >> > combat practice started out there because, again, they don’t have
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> >> > enough kids in any one group but the barony as a whole has quite a
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> >> > few. They want to try the once a month model but are having
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> >> trouble
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> >> > settling on when and where.
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> >> >
<br/>
> >> > An Ann Arbor practice could also draw in other groups. I know
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> >> there
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> >> > are interested kids in Talonval and Weald Lake. Some have come
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> >> to my
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> >> > practice on occasion. A trip to Ann Arbor would be much more
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> >> feasible
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> >> > for these parents than to come to my practice. You could also draw
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> >> > from Brackendelve. The Detroit area youth combat practice is
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> >> always
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> >> > the last Sunday of the month. If Cynnabar started a monthly
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> >> practice,
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> >> > the second Sunday for example, those who are inclined to could
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> >> attend
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> >> > both. Some of the kids who come to my practice would attend more
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> >> than
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> >> > one a month if available, but we have been reluctant to hold ours
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> >> more
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> >> > often for fear of losing that “critical mass”. When we started,
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> >> about
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> >> > 12 years ago, we had my son Bill, and Maximilian’s son Odd.
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> >> Those two
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> >> > got awfully tired of only having the other to fight with. As time
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> >> > went on, and with the availability of loaner gear, we got more
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> >> kids to
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> >> > play. One of the “problems” with YC is that the kids do age-out.
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> >> > About three years ago we had a bunch of division 3 kids at my
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> >> > practice. Then they started turning 18 and were gone. Leoric from
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> >> > Weald Lake was the last one. Now my oldest regular participants
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> >> are
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> >> > 14, but I have 5 or 6 more right behind them in division 2. Wait a
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> >> > couple years and I’ll have a bunch of division 3 kids again.
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> >> >
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> >> > On-line information for parents is somewhat lacking, other than the
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> >> > kingdom rules. This is an area which I want to correct. I hope to
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> >> > get some more resources posted to the kingdom website.
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> >> > Loaner gear seems to be the key. Parents are dis-inclined to spend
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> >> > money on gear until they are sure that their child is actually
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> >> going
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> >> > to stick with it. I’ve suited up many a child over the years who,
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> >> > after one practice, decided they would rather do fencing or
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> >> archery.
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> >> >
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> >> > Accumulating gear is a slow process, my stash is about 12 years
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> >> in the
<br/>
> >> > making. I started by asking for donations of old sports gear. I
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> >> got
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> >> > more roller-blading elbow and knee pads than I needed initially.
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> >> > Hawkland Moor authorized me to spend up to $75 which I used to buy
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> >> > hockey helmets at Play-it-Again Sports. I’ve also hit garage sales
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> >> > and flea markets for most of the rest. The only armor that isn’t
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> >> > commercially available are gorgets, but I’ll bet that some of your
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> >> > local fighters have scrap leather and barrel plastic lying around
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> >> and
<br/>
> >> > could throw together a few. Someone from Cynnabar would need to
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> >> step
<br/>
> >> > up and be the point person for the program. This should be a youth
<br/>
> >> > marshal with a background check (you need one of those present
<br/>
> >> > anyway). Assistance can then come from parents, fighters, and
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> >> other
<br/>
> >> > adults. Remember, you don’t have to be a warranted youth marshal
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> >> to
<br/>
> >> > work with the kids, just to “spar” with them.
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> >> >
<br/>
> >> > What can I do to help you get started? Would you like me to attend
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> >> > one of your baronial meetings to discuss this with the group? I
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> >> would
<br/>
> >> > also be willing to attend one of your practices and bring my loaner
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> >> > gear, although I can’t make a regular practice of this. Boy scout
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> >> > demos can be a fertile recruiting field. Over the last few years
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> >> I’ve
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> >> > had several families get started in SCA because the kids were
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> >> > introduced to youth combat either at demos or by friends in the
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> >> SCA.
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> >> > Little known fact: most of the kids in youth combat do not have a
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> >> > parent who fights.
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> >> >
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> >> > I will be teaching a class at 12th Night in January for parents and
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> >> > kids who are interested in learning about the program. As part of
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> >> > that class I am working on a set of hand-outs on how to find or
<br/>
> >> make
<br/>
> >> > youth combat gear. I plan to post these on-line eventually.
<br/>
> >> >
<br/>
> >> > At the very least, lets keep talking.
<br/>
> >> >
<br/>
> >> > THL Nyilas Kazmer
<br/>
> >> > Middle Kingdom Deputy Earl Marshal
<br/>
> >> > Youth Combat
<br/>
> >> >
<br/>
> >> >
<br/>
> >> > Randy Asplund
<br/>
> >> > Facebook: "Randy Asplund, Artist"
<br/>
> >> > www.RandyAsplund.com
<br/>
> >> > Maker of Medieval books and
<br/>
> >> > Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
<br/>
> >> > (734) 663-0954
<br/>
> >> > 2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103
<br/>
> >> >
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > Randy Asplund
<br/>
> > Facebook: "Randy Asplund, Artist"
<br/>
> > www.RandyAsplund.com
<br/>
> > Maker of Medieval books and
<br/>
> > Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
<br/>
> > (734) 663-0954
<br/>
> > 2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > _______________________________________________
<br/>
> > Barony mailing list
<br/>
> > Barony@cynnabar.org
<br/>
> > http://lists.cynnabar.org/listinfo/barony
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> >
<br/>
>
<br/>
> Randy Asplund
<br/>
> Facebook: "Randy Asplund, Artist"
<br/>
> www.RandyAsplund.com
<br/>
> Maker of Medieval books and
<br/>
> Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
<br/>
> (734) 663-0954
<br/>
> 2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103
<br/>
>
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