LEICESTERSHIRE NOTES
by John Ghent
Green Light for the Leicester Continental Club
We are thrilled to announce that the Leicester Continental Club has been affiliated at the recent East Midlands Region Council meeting and we thoroughly believe that this is part of a new dawn in pigeon racing, John Clements touched on it in a recent article regarding the well known Wall, Lunt and Green partnership. The article looked at the future for these traditional sprint men and it is thought that numerous sprint fanciers will start to compete in National racing out to 300 miles as that is where the real prestige and money now is within our sport. You only have to look at the results of the South Centre Section in the MNFC from these races up to 300 miles in 2013 and you will see the likes of O'Rourke, Allen and Anderson, Underwood and Son and Barry Lovell all cropping up. These are all well known sprint fanciers who have tried their hand at National racing and succeeded and for Leicester this change in approach could be the start of something huge. Whilst Leicester offers numerous options to the sprint fancier racing inland, the longer distances over the Channel are not catered for very well, certainly on the South Road, and with this in mind the Leicester Continental Club will be having its first season in 2014 and aims to provide competitive and exciting competition across its radius for fanciers who want something a little different to the weekly 130 mile dash for the top 5 places.
In 2014 the club will be run in conjunction with the Midland National Flying Club and we will be a very straightforward, paperless duplication club. Quite simply, pay your money, fill in your entry form at the start of the season and then sit back and watch the results and competitions unfold! There will be no weekly paperwork needed, no stress and no hassle making sure you have money in on time. It is going to be a slick, well organised process that will only add to the excitement that already exists on Midlands National day. Having several races within a single race is something that we want to achieve as we believe this holds the interest until the very last second of each race for everyone involved and again, this is what the club aims to offer. The success of the Liverpool Classic Club and other duplication clubs such as the Eccles 2 Bird Club in Section L of the NFC, the North East 700 Mile Club in Section K and the Lincolnshire Duplication Club, again run in conjunction with the MNFC, shows that this is something that can really take off if embraced by local fanciers.
We feel the key to its success will be opportunity; opportunity for everyone to have a great racing experience and also secure some prizes. The amount of competitions that we plan on organising within the club is amazing. They all need to be rubber stamped by the committee but the initial proposals are:-
- 10 positions paid per race
- Top 50% of birds in the result earning points for a Super League
- Gold ring scheme
- Knockout Competitions
- Single Bird Nom for every race
- Yearling Derby
- Ace Pigeon Awards
- Sprint Championship
- Long Distance Championship
- Age related specials (yearlings, 2y/o, 3y/o, older birds)
This is a complete racing experience under one roof organised by passionate individuals who want to see quality pigeons recognised in the Leicester area. All the information you need will be available in the coming weeks. There is no cap on the membership; every fancier that joins simply adds to the excitement and competition, creating a club which will be successful long into the future.
To launch the club we will be holding a get together of fanciers interested in this club so feel free to come along and ask as many questions as you like before deciding if this is for you. We will be giving a presentation on how the club will work and details on the many competitions on offer. If you compete in the Midlands National Flying and live within 17.5 miles of Leicester's Clock Tower then this opportunity is not to be missed! Get in touch by email or call me to double check anything, if that is to check whether your address is in the radius, questions about the race programme, or just for a chat.
The open meeting we are holding will be announced very shortly so keep your eyes open.
John Ghent
07510866515
Secretary of Leicester Continental Club
