The baron/baroness's primary role in the barony is encouragement. One of
my suggestions for encouraging a little more visibility for the martial
arts is to have a baronial guard again, but along slightly different
lines than the CRC. I was a member of the CRC and I greatly enjoyed the
opportunity not only to fence, but to serve the baron. That feeling of a
personal tie was a good one. My proposal for a Guard is to have one
composed of 2-3 members from each of the martial arts (heavy list,
fencing, archery, thrown weapons). When we have enough equestrians, we
could add that, too :). The members would be nominated by the marshalls
of the various arts, and would be taken from the "up-and-coming" people
with a few years experience who show a lot of promise. They would serve
for a year or two, and then others would take their place. It would
hopefully serve as a setting for recognizing their efforts, encouraging
them, and getting them more involved in the larger activities of the
barony, rather like the Queen's Guard does on a kingdom level. There
would be a captain, drawn in a rotation from from the different martial
arts, who would be a more experienced person. I love pagentry, which I
think really enriches our SCA experience, and the more period the
better. I think that the guard could be fun for the people in it and
watching it and would encourage pride in our martial skills.
<p>
One of the great things that has emerged recently has been more venues
for beginners to learn martial arts. The "newbie practice" for heavy
list is a great idea, as are the fencing classes. It's important to make
it easy for people, so that they don't feel intimidated. Not everyone
feels comfortable learning a new skill by serving as a pell. So I would
do all I could to encourage these kinds of things. I don't know if the
"class" approach applies to archery and TW, I would need to consult with
those communities. Even running a short class once a year might help
motivate people to say to themselves, "hey, I've always wanted to learn
<fill in the blank>, why don't I do it now?"
<p>
The baron/baroness can't really change anything by fiat. All the good
stuff in the barony has come from people with bright ideas and
enthusiasm. The baron can watch out for those people, encourage them,
and be visibly supportive of these kinds of efforts. And when someone
comes up with a good idea that works, make sure everyone else knows
about it too :).
