ABOUT US – The Handbook |
1992-93 The first issue |
1998-99 | 1999-00 First hard cover |
2013-14 Last with coloured cover |
2014-15 First with colour |
2019-20 Last to be printed? |
CHRONOLOGY
1992 – The first issue of a “Year Book” contained just 4 pages. It was basically a fixture list for the Ryedale league (which at that time was run by the NYSMBA).
1998 – It had grown to 20 pages with fixture lists for the Scarborough, Selby and Kyle Valley league being included. It also contained some contact telephone numbers and a basic diary.
1999 – After a change in NYSMBA management, the format was changed radically with the league fixtures being omitted but league histories and some club profiles being included. There were also details of the county team results and the names of the qualifiers for the Northern and National Championships and membership details. It was henceforward known as “The Handbook” and was initially issued free of charge to clubs (although eventually a £1 charge per copy was introduced)
2011 – The size reached a maximum of 60 pages. Since then the content has constantly be kept under review and format/layout changes have occurred each year to prevent it looking “stale”. Articles from members have been sought and published and many will remember the regular poetry contributions made by our past vice-chairman, John Bunting. In recent years the size has reduced to 48 pages and issues have contained very little that has not already been published on this NYSMBA website site.
2020-21 – Partly due to the Covid-19 crisis, the decision was taken not to prepare, print and distribute any physical copies but to provide a “virtual” Handbook with links to those pages on this site that have all the information usually found in the printed versions. This decision will not only save the Association and its clubs money but will reduce drastically the administration time required to produce it. At the AGM in 2021 there were no requests made to resurrect the physical copy so our Handbook must now be considered part of our history. The Secretary has retained a copy of every one issued which are available to loan if requested.