Unto the People of the East do Matthias and Feilinn, Sovereign and Consort of the East Kingdom, send greetings.
We write to tell you that the Board of Directors has returned our request for a variance for a Crown Tournament using rapier combat instead of rattan combat in Spring 2024. There will be an official statement coming shortly from the Board as to why they did not accept it. It is our plan to wait for the official statement before responding to the Board. We would encourage others to do the same. Then we can address their concerns more directly.
Thank you for the many thoughtful and respectful letters sent to us. Your feedback was appreciated and overwhelmingly, although not completely, positive. We also heard from people who assumed that the variance would never be approved by the Board, but wrote anyway. Thank you for making your voice heard.
Change comes hard to the SCA and generally after many iterations of an idea. We knew the odds were not high when we submitted this proposal. We did it anyway. This is a first step. We have to start somewhere.
If you wanted to see the variance granted, we share your disappointment. We would also remind you that the East is strong, stubborn, and resilient. We don’t stop fighting until we are ready to stop. Let’s read what the Board has to say and move on from there.
Matthias Rex & Feilinn Regina
thank you to all who worked on the request.
Thank you for doing this important work.
Æthestan, Drachenwald, Heavy Fighter.
Good effort.
I chatted with the wife and friends of ours. We were all in support of this. Sadly we also expected that the BOD would choose this course of action. Good first try though. We hope that someday this can be a thing.
Yours in service,
Baron Talan Gwyllt
Thank you for submitting this variance.
I am not surprised that it was not approved, but it paves the way to have it, some day, happen.
Brunissende
Thank you to the crown and the heirs for having the bravery to make this attempt and to fight for change. Change is never easy but to see those at your level willing to support such a change is refreshing and appreciated. I hope that the Crown (in all its incarnations) continues to move this type of change forward for the future.