Most rule book disputes aren't about what a rule says. They're about which rule book applies. If two PDFs are circulating, each with a slightly different rule 3.4, the argument is lost before it starts.
The three rules of rule book versions
1. A published version never changes. Once you publish, the wording is fixed. If you find a mistake, publish a new version, even if the change is one word. Otherwise nobody can be sure what applied on the day.
2. There is exactly one current version, at one address. Don't email attachments. Publish to a single link that always shows the latest version, and point everyone at it.
3. Every version says what changed. A short, exact list of rules added, removed, moved and reworded is the most-read page of any rule book.
A routine that works
- Copy the current published version into a new draft.
- Edit the draft. Record a short reason with each change ("Agreed at the March committee meeting").
- Review: invite officials and captains to comment on specific rules and suggest wording.
- Publish the draft with release notes and an effective date.
- Announce the change list to everyone who has subscribed.
Why "what changed" is hard in Word
Track changes works for one editing session, but it falls apart across a season of edits, accepted changes and renumbering. Compare tools match paragraphs by position, so when you insert a rule near the top, everything below looks "changed".
The fix is to give every rule a permanent identity that survives renumbering. Then a comparison can say "rule 5.1.02 (previously 5.1.01) changed from 15 minutes to 30 minutes", which is exactly what readers need to know.