Jousting Tournament to be Held at Darke County Fairgrounds

Local Seth and Elijah crossing lances

GREENVILLE – Combatants Keep, A Greenville based jousting team will be hosting a modern jousting tournament at the Great Darke County Fairgrounds. This event will be held May 26 and 27. All spectators are welcome at this free to the public event. This competition will be run based on the International Format; consisting of skill at arms and jousting.

This isn’t a renaissance festival show; this is a real, unscripted competition, organized in an European Style. All competitors are required to run a Skill at Arms course and compete in the joust. This event is sanctioned by the IJL, International Jousting League in Brussels, Belgium. Riders will not only be competing for prizes but International rankings and points towards year end awards.

Mounted Skill at Arms is a timed obstacle course requiring participants to handle historical weapons, navigate a course, manage their horse and accurately strike as many of the targets as they can.

Jousting is a match between two armored riders consisting of four passes. Each pass the riders attempt to break their lance on their opponent’s shield. Each break is a point toward their cumulative score for weekend. While the goal is to break the most lances, unhorsing’s can and do happen, though no extra points are awarded.

In all equine sports there is a calculated risk for the rider. In this sport, riders knowingly accept that they are the target in this combat based activity. The horses are protected from injury using what is called a “frangible tipped lance.” A composite shaft of tempered aircraft aluminum is fitted with a wooden tip designed to deliver a solid hit but break in a manner that leaves no sharp edges for horses to step on. There is also a five-foot-tall divider rail between the horses to help eliminate risk for the horses.

Come out and enjoy this free event and cheer on locals Seth Conway, Elijah Harris, Tom Nader and this year’s head judge Patrick Neill. Combatants Keep has confirmed competitors from Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts and Canada. There is still time to become a vendor or event sponsor. Help us bring in more jousters from all over North America through your sponsorship or donations. If you are interested, contact Combatants Keep care of Tom and Kim Nader via email at: CKJouster@gmail.com.

Cost - FREE

Where - Darke County Fairgrounds

Schedule

• Sat
• 9am - skill at arms competition
• 11am - Flag Ceremony (Greenville HS JROTC), Jouster skill at arms, Joust session 1
• 3pm - Joust session 2
• 6pm - Joust session 3
• Sun
• 9am - skill at arms competition
• 11am - Flag Ceremony (Greenville HS JROTC), Jouster skill at arms, Joust session 4
• 3pm - Joust session 5
• 6pm - Joust session 6, awards