People attend tournament 'A' because they believe tournament 'A' will do at least one of the following:
1. Have lots of people to fence and get experience from
2. Pass out fat cash ratings
3. Qualify people for a larger tournament (Div 1A, etc..)
4. Fencers from tournament 'A' will reciprocate the favor and send fencers your way, typically when 1-3 are met
There are certainly other motivations for why people attend tournaments, but these are the major ones. 1-2 are the hardest things for people like me to organize at a grassroots level. 1-2 are relatively easy in a more populated area that isn't riddled with drama. 3 is more within my reach, but not so you'd notice. 3 is a regular occurrence in a more populated area. 4 is by and large what I have to work with on a regular basis, but something I dislike relying on for several reasons.
4 depends on the rest of the region having tournaments and also that they have a fencing community to speak of. While I am not opposed to traveling for tournaments elsewhere, guilt alone seems to be a poor motivator for outside fencers to come to our tournaments. As well it should, I don't want people to feel guilted into fencing with us.
Rather, I want to focus on making sure that Missoula is a place people want to come and fence at. I want us to carry our own weight with enough fencers to field a D1 by itself in all weapons. I don't want help from the rest of the division to make our tournaments healthier. That said I will appreciate it, but not expect it. I also think that this is the one way that Missoula can start meeting the demands of 1-2.
I concur. :)
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