The future of the League Handbook

League News

Bill Blackburn dropped me an email recently about the demise of League handbooks which got me thinking. Here is his email to me.

I have copies of the Huddersfield Bowling Association handbooks going back to 1983, but have been informed that the 2019 issue will be the last. Is this, do you think, down to the success of Bowlsnet or lack of interest in the Saturday League?

Bill

As I say that got me thinking about which, if either or both of those two suggested answers applied and what is the future of the traditional paper copy of the League Handbook or Yearbook as called by some leagues?

The Paperback Handbook

The demise of the printed handbook is in many ways inevitable. Just like newspapers and paperback books, the life of a League's handbook is destined to disappear with time. I think that a number of things have contributed to its reduced necessity including as Bill says the reduced interest in bowling and a cheaper alternative of an online version. But we should not be resigned to losing the paper handbook whilst there are still cheaper and easier ways of reproviding that paper record.

The problem with a hard paper copy of a handbook is immediately it is printed it is out-of-date. A club rep has changed or the fixture programme has had to be altered (through unfit greens, heatwaves or the passing of royalty) or the League Rules may have been altered. All these devalue the handbook especially with people being used to accessing up-to-date information about almost anything nowadays.

When there are so many ways of accessing bang-up-to-date information in a much cheaper form why would anyone want a paper copy to carry around with them? Well, it is still the preferred means of communication for many and the opportunity to add your own notes to the paper copy of anything should not be underestimated.

Bowlsnet

I don't think that Bowlsnet has contributed greatly to the reduced popularity of a printed record. Bowlsnet is primarily a Results Reporting system which has replaced the result cards being submitted by post following every match day.

This has reduced postal costs to leagues and clubs as well as producing instant up to date league tables and results replacing the role of the local newspapers.

It brings more than that as well including extended details such as bowler averages. It also is very responsive to changes in fixture lists with a ready means to reschedule any postponed matches. I think that Bowlsnet is a marvellous addition and acts as a prime means of promoting our sport. I sit in the clubhouse on a Tuesday afternoon after a Vets League match with my phone in one hand and pint of Sam Smith Sovereign in the other watching all the results coming in and all the league tables being updated instantly. For a team involved in title, promotion and relegation matters at this time of the season it is a riveting and developing read.

My only concern about Bowlsnet is that it is totally dependent on one individual to maintain and develop it. Should anything happen to that individual, and he is not a young man, then what happens to that system and all the historical information that it contains? I think it is inevitable that the system will be sold to a more commercial enterprise at some time in the future. Then we will be in the hands of someone who may be more interested in making money rather than providing a very cost-effective and very tailored product.

Online Handbooks

I am surprised that more leagues don't have their own websites where they can provide instant access to all the information that has historically been made available in the handbook. The major problem with a printed handbook is that the minute it is published, it is out of date with amendments, updates and corrections always required. That doesn't happen with a computer record.

Somewhere to deposit your League's history which is instantly available to anyone free of charge must be a viable alternative to a paper copy that has deteriorated in quality over time and has a charge levied against every copy. Much of what is in most handbooks is just an update from the previous years. Adding the new league and cup winners requires minor updates at a maximum cost.

Future Alternatives

There are at least four alternatives to preserving the paper record.

1. Re-inventing the paperback record

2. Self-Publishing

3. Self-Printing

4. Website Records

All these are viable with minimum effort and mainly at no additional cost to the League whilst the Self-Printing option (number 2) is available at no cost to anyone other than the recipient regardless of how many copies are produced. Lets look at each in turn.

1. Re-inventing the paperback record The Huddersfield Veterans League has this year presented their handbook in a different format. It is still the same presentation at the same cost but it is now known as 'My Bowling Diary' and no longer includes historical records such as league and competition winners. This unchanging information has been consigned to their website and can be easily updated annually with the new winners added in sequence. In addition the Diary provides a lot of space to be used by the owner to record any information they wish. The space runs alongside the fixture programme so you can add any results, individual scores, notes on greens you have played on, additional or postponed competition dates and is invaluable for team captains to note any of their team not available on any date. A quick record added for that week only. The Diary still contains information likely to be needed during the season such as contact details of League Officials and other clubs, League Rules and Handicapping Rules. There is always room for advertising to bring in funding to offset the cost of the publication.
   

2. Self-Publishing This is one alternative of course which I haven't seen anywhere yet. With self-publishing of books now so easy to implement and promote it is a viable alternative to an annual handbook. It is possible to publish the handbook on Amazon at absolutely no cost to the League involved which will allow as many people as want, whenever they want, to buy for £1.99p as a paperback including delivery. Printing technology has progressed over time so that orders can be printed off individually on demand and still make a profit for the publisher. Alternatively you can buy it for 99p and then download it electronically to phones, tablets, laptops, Kindle readers and desktop computers. This doesn't get around the annual updates as it is a static record of things at that time, a like-for-like reproduction of the current paper record but with easier access and widely available for ever.
   

3. Self-Printing You don't even have to use Amazon for circulating the record as you can save a word processing version in a PDF format very easily and then make that available to all clubs instantly by email. Those that want to have a paper copy can just print that version although not in a handy paperback format it is still a valuable aid to all those that want it. Updated versions can be realeased whenever you want throughout the year at no cost, instantly and freely distributed.
   

4. Website Records Moving historical information to a League's own website becomes a side-product of a adopting a much bigger toolset of means to improve communications with all bowlers. The growing record of achievements is of interest to many and something that League's need to be mindful of, as the current custodians responsible for those records. Income generated from advertisers is preserved as the website is now widely recognised as a very viable alternative and more effective means of interested individuals being able to follow up on anything that takes their eye. A link from a sponsor's advertisement on a website direct to the sponsor's home website provides an instant follow up opportunity not available via the paper record and so well appreciated by sponsors and commercial advertisers. The website advertising does not impact on the cost or space required for its inclusion so making it attractive to the League involved as well.

Whilst all the four options are open to all leagues it is of concern that some leagues have opted for doing away with the long established handbook without providing a replacement means of retaining or reproviding that information. Please do not allow leagues to dump their own history when it is so easy to provide a readily available alternative to keep the history of bowling alive and accessible for future generations as that may become the only long-term means of capturing that history of our sport.

The current version of the Huddersfield Veterans Bowling Diary runs to 76 pages whilst the Yorkshire CCGBA Yearbook has 196 pages. It is a massive exercise every year to update and add to these records and prepare them for publications with proofs passing backwards and forward between leagues and printers. Why do we do it when better, cheaper, easier and longer-term solutions are so readily available?