I have this mental image of Christabel standing in court with her little
picnic basket of death...
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When is any martial group ready to produce a champion?  If you have a
relatively stable population, are respected by the Barony and the group
feels that they want to put forward a representative for court it may be
time.  If you are holding successful theme events where the draw is
thrown weapons, then it is probably long past the point the point that
you should have a champion.
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If you can average 8-10 people a week at your practices during the
summer and/or around 15-20 at events then it is probably time to push
for a champion.  If you are lower you might want to wait longer unless
you believe that having a champion will encourage more people to join
thrown weapons.
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The problem with a Champion is that you have to attend the same courts
as the Baron, but you just stand there.  While this may be interesting
for a reign or two, it gets old quickly.  If you do not have a large
enough and fluid enough base of people to draw champions from, the same
small core of people will keep becoming champion and that can become
boring and can be a disencentive to people participating.
<p>
I would welcome a Champion, so long as the activity base is large enough
to support one and keep them fresh.  I however would not want to have an
event four or five years from now when all the main members have been
champion and no one wants to compete and do it again...
