The sport of kings

What was once a deadly sport in medieval times has become a way of life for Radar Goddard.

Donning a metal suit of armour, armed with an 11-foot-long lance and charging full-speed on horseback towards her opponent is not an unusual occurrence for the professional jouster.

Goddard, who is now in her early 50s, was the top female jouster in Canada eight years ago. While age and injuries have slowed her down physically, her love of the sport continues to grow.

Goddard is one of the founders of the Society of Tilt and Lance Cavalry. She bought a farm just north of Millarville in the early 1990s as the headquarters for the society where members train, build their own equipment and host the odd tournament.

It was like a secret society few people knew existed for many years, but word has spread. It currently has approximately 35 paid members from across southern Alberta.

“It's really taken a foothold here,” said Goddard. “We're going to be sending top trained athletes to competitions all over the world. Four or five years ago was when we really started making our mark on the international circuit. We are probably way more well known in Europe than Canada.”

The society is part of the International Jousting League which includes countries such as Australia, Italy, England, France and the United States.

The tournaments are invitational only and the society has been invited to Langley, B.C., Winnipeg and Valleyview, among many other places. The society regularly attends the larg-est jousting tournament in North America in Brooks, which takes place during its medieval fair every August, said Radar.

The sport calls for two horsemen wielding lances with blunted tips to ride towards each other at high speed and strike the other's armor or shield with their lance.

Each participant starts with zero points and it's up to the host to determine how they can gain or lose points. Points are often added for hitting the target and deducted for such things as poor horsemanship or not handling the lance properly.

Goddard said the hosts are responsible for providing the horses – as many teams come from quite a distance – and they must offer the best to the competition, putting themselves in an even playing field.

To become successful as a jouster takes a lot of training for both horse and rider, said Goddard.

“As soon as it's nice outside we get serious about working the horses towards the tournament goal,” she said, adding the season runs from about May into October. “Horsemanship is key. We are always working on our riding. The better you gel with the horse the better you do.”

Society members who aren't experienced jousters serve as the grounds crew, responsible for a variety of tasks from making lances to preparing the grounds for the tournament and outfitting riders.

Among them is James Benedetti, who calls himself October in the jousting world.

He remembers learning about the medieval times during an elementary school field trip at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary and has been captivated by the era since.

“That's what originally piqued my interest,” he said. “I thought about joining the Viking groups that do the Highland Games.”

Benedetti joined the Society of Tilt and Lance Cavalry two years ago, starting with sim-ple tasks like set up and take down and grabbing broken lances out of the centre to this year saddling horses and outfitting them with their caparison and catching lances during tourna-ments.

People in Benedetti's position are called squires, just as their medieval counterparts were.

He is working his way towards jousting, but he said it will take at least another two years.

“This is a really difficult, really hard-hitting sport,” he said. “It's almost like a way to tame your fear.”

Benedetti began learning how to ride horses a year ago.

“I would like to keep working towards rid-ing before I get anywhere near the jousting,” he said. “It's a lot of training and I'm still learning every time we go to a new event and I meet someone new. It's a new experience every time.”