One of the outcomes of the Champion format discussion in late 2023 was this variation proposed by William and Katherina:

Short version: 

People who want to reign and people who want to fight are paired up randomly, up to the number of fighters participating (we’re likely to have more people wanting to reign than able to fight)

That makes it more inclusive, but it could result in some awkward situations, so:

See also: 2020 Survey Results

An informal survey ran for two weeks up to Christmas 2023. At the time, SCANZ had just under 250 subscribing members; the survey had 137 NZ responses, coming from every NZ group and hamlet. Group proportions roughly corresponded to their current SCANZ membership count, with moderate over-representation from Ildhafn City and slightly under from Cluain and Southron Gaard.

Discussions at Cluain's Labour Weekend event in 2023 and subsequently examined the merits of the "Champion" format for selecting the P&P (local rulers) of a future Principality. This is a format initially proposed by Count Henri in 2020, where an armoured combatant ("heavy") fights in a Coronet tournament for two patrons who would become P&P if the fighter wins.

Bartholomew, April 2021

When the NZ Principality idea surfaced in 2019, I didn't expect that an Alternate Selection Process (ASP) for the Coronet would become the major theme of the push.

But it certainly has. There are plenty of other reasons to favour a Principality, but a great many people also saw it as an opportunity to try shift the dial on how the SCA chooses its figureheads - even if only in our part of the Known World.