COMPETITIONS – ESMBA Juniors, Seniors and Ladies squads |
The ESMBA was formed in 1984 and is the national governing body for our sport. It is an Association of 34 separate County Associations of which the NYSMBA is the 8th largest. Membership peaked in 2003/04 at over 25,000 since when there has been an annual contraction across most counties resulting in an overall reduction of around 33%. They are responsible for setting standards for Rules, Umpires, Coaching, Discipline and Safeguarding as well as the general future development of the game in England. They organize the National Inter-County Competitions (ICC) and the National Championships and also run annual Open Competitions for Singles, Pairs Triples and Fours and an annual Open Club competition (in association with the TLH resort in Torquay). They conduct Trials each year to select players for 3 National squads from which players are selected for International and other inter-county fixtures. Full details can be viewed on their website at ESMBA.CO.UK |
THE JUNIOR SQUAD – See ENGLAND UNDER 21 ACADEMY
Thanks to the commitment of the North Duffield club under Janet and Nobby Clark and Jill Newsome, a small core of junior players has always been encouraged at their club. This paid dividends when in 2006, twins Gareth & Jacinta Townend and brothers David & Joseph Newsome were all selected into a newly formed ESMBA U18 squad organized by John Jackson (late ESMBA Treasurer).
Thus began a long involvement of North Yorkshire juniors in the England squad. This led to regular participation in the annual Woodbridge Trophy (now the National U18 plate competition) and matches against select county teams of senior players around the country including 2 against North Yorkshire. From 2008 there has also been an international contest again the Welsh junior team.
North Yorkshire Juniors and others 2014 | |
England U21 – 2006 | Captains – Karen Watson & Ralph Parsons |
Daniel Agar England U21 2014 – 2021 |
Aaron Kaya Oliver Todd Bekir Kaya England U21 2019 – 2020 |
NYSMBA players all having England Junior “caps”
Gareth Townend | Jacinta Townend | Edward Townend | David Newsome |
Ben Render | Alex Robinson | Nathan Kotek | Joseph Newsome |
James Clark | Charlotte Clark | Jake Potter | Matthew Jackson |
Josh Burrow | Cameron Breeze | Danny Langdon | Jamie Trigg |
Lauren Finch | Daniel Agar | Aaron Kaya | Bekir Kaya |
Oliver Todd |
THE SENIOR SQUAD – see ENGLAND SENIOR SQUAD
Squad players are chosen after taking part in the England trials or by winning one of the National Championships. From this squad, teams are then picked to represent England at the British Isles Championships (26) and the World Championships (20).
In 2008, Gareth Townend was the first North Yorkshire player to be included in the England Senior squad (aged 17) and since that time the following players have all followed in his footsteps.
Jacinta Townend | David Newsome | Danny Langdon (aged 16) | Lee Toleman |
Ben Render | Joseph Newsome | Bronagh Toleman (Malone) | Lawrence Moffat |
The 2022-23 squad numbers 39 and North Yorkshire has no members
Successes at England level for North Yorkshire players | ||||
2018 World Triples ChampionsDanny Langdon |
2017 |
2012 World Triples RUGareth Townend Bronagh Malone |
2012 World Pairs ChampionsDavid Newsome Ben Render |
2012 SMTP Open Pairs ChampionsJoseph Newsome Ben Render |
2019 B.I. Singles RUBronagh Toleman |
THE LADIES SQUAD see ENGLAND LADIES SQUAD
Under the initiative of the late ESMBA President, George Clark, the squad took shape in 2011 for an initial match against the Armagh Zone in Northern Ireland. Rose Haynes, Pat Beardsley, Jacinta Townend and Bronagh Malone all took part. The following year Rose and Pat both travelled over to NI for the return game.
2011 | 2012 |
After a years pause, formal trials were held in 2014 attended by Rose and Pat (Bronagh and Jacinta were in the Senior squad by then) and although Pat was unfortunately not selected, Rose remained in the team until 2019 when she decided not to trial. Each year the team has several matches against selected county teams and in 2017 they travelled abroad for the first time to play Belgium. This was followed in 2018 with match against Scotland with a return played in early 2019 at the HSMBA venue at North Cave.