The Sport of Racing Pigeons Demise
By Alan Foster
The Sport of Racing Pigeons has been around for a very long time, The Sport with a single starting gate and a thousand finish lines. It is thought that the sport may go back as far as 220 AD or even earlier, however with no compelling evidence this is pure speculation. But it begs the question what started this sport in the first place, like anything really.
In the mid 19th century racing pigeons became very popular in Belgium, this is where the story began, and flyers were soon to start breeding lines to develop birds for fast flight and long endurance. This then spread to a vast majority of the world as it grew in popularity. Like anything when something new and interesting is started you find a lot of people will give it a go, however with the current state of the sport being at an all time low it is hard to get the younger generations of today interested.
This is down to a number of factors, the cost of living today, time consuming, it’s not “cool”!!
The cost of living may be better than it was back in the day, but this is still an expensive hobby. We all say we should do this for the love of the sport not the money; I am a great believer in this philosophy.
I forever tell people that the best part of the race is that moment you see your bird arriving home. Whether you win or not, the sight you see when a pigeon shuts its wings and drops like a winner is the best feeling you can get in the sport. One of my common sayings is “winning is a bonus”.
A lot of flyers today are aging and still carry the spirit of the sport with them, with the decreasing interest the sport has in today’s media it is hard for the younger generation to find out about the world of racing pigeons.
The sport is constantly trying new ideas to try and help promote the sport and give a bit more of an interest. The new found One Loft Races are a great asset the sport has in terms of moving with the times. Like any sport money is a big part of all aspects of the game and this is one of the factors every sport tries to promote to generate new interest.
Even though the above points are valid in terms of introducing new flyers to the sport, there are other factors which are causing current flyers to give up,
One of the main hurdles we as pigeon flyers have is the sudden rise in the number of predators the birds have to deal with. The number of birds of prey has rapidly increased causing hits being recorded numerous times a day, even just flying the birds out round the loft. It has caused flyers to question whether there is any point anymore as their birds are getting hit every time they get let out.
A few hits in one season could be enough to wipe out a flyer that has only a small team to compete with. This is having a detrimental effect on the sport and is sad to see the demise of flyers ambition to carry on.
Gone are the days where you meet up at your local to see your birds off to a race and pop in and sink a few and discuss who you think is going to win. But having said that not everything is built to last forever, the sport is what we have made it and the future for the sport will be decided on what we now make it through our own actions and ideas.
I look forward to see what the sport of today has to offer going forward, and wish everyone the best for the coming years.
