Again, long but worth it.
From Sir Steven de Grandchamps:
As of this date (Sept 8th,2011) 16 and 17 year olds will be able to participate in practices and authorize for Heavy List Combat in the East Kingdom by using the following procedures. They may participate in fighting practices, attended by a parent or legal guardian, who will sign a minor authorization to participate. If the parent is not a currently authorized fighter in the East, they will be provided a copy of the Fighters handbook and the Combat Conventions of the East, observe a practice, with armor inspections, and only then be allowed to participate at the following practice.
The parent will be strongly encouraged to continue participation in the process throughout the entire period of instruction and practice. (Note: If a minor will ever be in attendance at a practice without the parent present, the minor will have a notarized form to allow medical treatment and another duly authorized adult guardian will be present…These standards are no different than those required for ANY minor to participate in ANY SCA event or activity and have no bearing on the Martial aspects of the process. If, as a Marshal, you are not up to speed on current SCA practices re: minor participation at events, please contact your local Seneschal or consult the official East Kingdom web site. After an appropriate period of instruction, an authorization bout may be held. This bout will be attended and observed by the parent/guardian.
The two Marshals involved in the process must include a member of the Chivalry. (The chivalry component is not a requirement for participation in practices.) The parent must sign the auth. paperwork as being in agreement with the armor inspection and authorization process. (The current auth form can be used for now, but the form will be modified in the near term to include specific places for the parent’s counter-signatures.) The Auth paper work will be marked “MINOR”, the subsequently provided Auth.
Card will be also be prominently marked “MINOR”. They may then participate in any heavy list activity in the East that their guardians allow. The current Youth Fighter program, Div 1-4, remains unchanged and is still available for all minors, with the exception that the above Earl Marshals ruling offers an alternative path for advancement to the adult heavy list, both for practices and authorization. The “Youth to Adult “ rubric still remains, but may be subject to alterations or change in the future, if our experience with this model is positive.
A minor participating in primarily adult activities (such as Heavy List practices and events), properly waivered by the parent IS NOT held to the standards that requires “2-deep” supervision by persons holding background checks .The requirement that an activity, held EXCLUSIVELY for minors, must follow these procedures is unchanged. In the very unlikely event that a small fighting practice only included minors on a particular occasion, it would, by definition, become a youth activity and be subject to the Minor rules. The choice of the Marshal in charge would be to cancel that practice or proceed with the properly qualified personnel, if available.
Armor Standards: Armor standards for 16-17 year old fighters participating in Heavy List Combat activities of the East Kingdom shall be as per the Society for Creative Anachronism’s minimum armor standards for heavy list combat found in the most current version of the SCA Marshal’s Handbook. The following additional requirements will also apply: The points of the shoulders shall be protected with the minimum of a piece of armor made from both rigid and padded materials.* The forearms shall be protected with the minimum of padded and rigid* vambraces, wrapping around the arm to the inner portion of the lower arm. Solid or splinted style vambraces are both acceptable. This protection will not be required on an arm that is protected by a shield.
(* rigid and padded materials shall be as defined in the guidelines found in the SCA Marshal’s Handbook)
Minor activities will now become a mandatory topic in all Marshal Reports sent to your Regionals and to my Office. This will form the basis for evaluating future changes and continuation of the program. The above procedures will be in effect for 6 mo., at which time they will be reviewed by the Earl Marshal. This plan also covers activity in the areas of Combat Archery and Siege. A policy will be forthcoming to address Rapier Combat in the near future. I know that some of you will have concerns about various components of this significant change to our current practice here in the East. Your thoughts and comment are welcome. It is a “work in progress”. You will note that this article contains added information to assist in the implementation of these changes and differs slightly in wording from what will be published on the East Kingdom web site Thank you for your patience while I worked through the issues involved here! Sir Stephen Grandchamp, OP KEM
(This article, in its entirety, may be cross posted to all East Kingdom marshal, group or household web sites)
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