Time to move on ?

[Spieker-Loft]

Today we basketed for the last training of the combine and i have to say im a bit sad. just under 500 pigeons basketed..
2 years ago we had over 1250 on the first race and now we cant even get 500 together for the final training. Doubt it will be over 600 for the first race if even 500.
I guess it might be time to switch combine The other combine i can go to has double of our birds still but i would be the furthest loft in the back by about 10 miles. I dont think that bothers me to much tho.
But the state of this combine is saddening. 7 people dont even basket and just race them as yearlings for no reason. 6 other people don't even basket more then 15 yb's because they are tired of the sport.
Its a tough hit for someone like me who only just started 4 years ago with racing and still has so much passion and motivation left to see how these people just seem to not care at all about it anymore...
Gonna sit down with my father after the yb racing season is over and have a proper think about it if its even worth it to stay here for the future

[Buster121]

Could you not send in both Leon

[Tony-P-]

sorry to hear this news Leon.
when it comes to race day will there be a lot more birds racing or do you think it'll be 500 hundred again.
That all I have heard over the last couple of years that people are leaving the sport and as you say you have only been racing for Four years and you have seen the drop off in birds for racers.
The club I am looking to join am not sure how many are in that club I forgot to ask the Sec

[Rdhd Danny]

Sad to hear mate but all too common sadly, if you really going for it you have to move to a competitive fed area it's why I've moved around with jobs I want to fly against the best, but so many across Europe now have clubs with less than 5 fanciers and feds that are very none competitive sad but age waits around for no man, but absolutely if you passionate to achieve move mate and compete at the best level you can mate

[Murray]

I'm sad to hear that, Leon. For some reason I thought the sport was going okay in Germany generally.

[Spieker-Loft]

I'm sad to hear that, Leon. For some reason I thought the sport was going okay in Germany generally.

Sport is in a massive decline here if not biggest one out of all if i remember they released some numbers not to long ago not even 20k memebers are registered anymore in germany and they loose about 2.5k members a year

[king]

Today we basketed for the last training of the combine and i have to say im a bit sad. just under 500 pigeons basketed..
2 years ago we had over 1250 on the first race and now we cant even get 500 together for the final training. Doubt it will be over 600 for the first race if even 500.
I guess it might be time to switch combine The other combine i can go to has double of our birds still but i would be the furthest loft in the back by about 10 miles. I dont think that bothers me to much tho.
But the state of this combine is saddening. 7 people dont even basket and just race them as yearlings for no reason. 6 other people don't even basket more then 15 yb's because they are tired of the sport.
Its a tough hit for someone like me who only just started 4 years ago with racing and still has so much passion and motivation left to see how these people just seem to not care at all about it anymore...
Gonna sit down with my father after the yb racing season is over and have a proper think about it if its even worth it to stay here for the future

I feel for you Leon. But your looking at it purely from your own point of view. You've only been in the sport 4 years. The fanciers not sending or who are sending smaller teams will have their reasons. I myself haven't raced since 2018. But the 4 years before stopping racing, I too had enough of YB racing. It wasn't worth the effort involved. I used to love YB racing, the local club used to send 400/500 birds and for around 10 years straight I raced YBs as far as 368 miles in Nationals, sometimes sending too two 300+ mile YB races with the rest going to 200+ miles. For the last 4 years racing 2014 to 2018 my reduced YB team had just ONE race. With the race points becoming shorter and the increase of young bird sickness I myself got sick of it. If I ever raced again I wouldn't race a YB again, I'd just train private to around 100 miles.
In the 40+ years I raced YBs, One thing I did learn is the number of races a bird had as a YB & the distance it went too, didn't make it a better old bird.
I hope you decide to stay in the sport even if it means switching Combine.

[Andy]

Sorry to hear that Leon. But you can only do what you can do. Race to what ever level you can with what’s available to you. Racing against smaller numbers doesn’t necessarily mean racing against poorer quality competition.

[Devo1956]

I think you have carry on racing the young birds Leon, but keep in mind your future racing. You will have time to discuss with your father, of the way forward in racing. You have top quality birds and they need racing, go for it mate.

[Albert]

Hi Leon, I don't know how far you fly your teams, and in Scotland our membership is way below what your membership is in Germany, but there is good competition at National level. I myself am mostly interested in racing at 300 miles plus, but I participate in all racing. And what is strange, is there are lots of members in our combine (National) with large teams of 60 + birds, who don't complete the program, and are finished at 300 miles, so there is obviously different opinions in pigeon racing, and there has always been fanciers that don't fly young birds, who for different reasons, want to do other things at that time of year, holidays for example.