The truth about the sport

[Devo1956]

We all have different views about the sport, and so we should. You have to be honest, not everyone agrees with different topics. And i must say I agree with that, but the problem to me, is when some people are being attacted for there views on the sport. Everyone as the right to their view, and lets face it the sport is on a decline. so who, or what is playing the part on the decline?

[Murray]

And this is were I will be attacked for my views. I think the often repeated view that pigeon racing is in decline is wrong.

Pigeon racing is undergoing some big upheavals. It is like the racing stables when I was an apprentice in the 70's. Many yards had 20 or 40 , the big ones maybe 60 horses. These days the big stables have hundreds in training all the time and as many again on the books undergoing pre-training or rehab or whatever.
Same as the pigeons. There are one third of the lofts that there were 30 years ago. Many of them these days have gone from two dozen race birds to 300 race birds.
Where I live money racing is huge. The money invested and the prize money to be won is driving the sport.

What I am hearing, if you stop and listen, is a lot of people really don't just want the game to survive. What they really want is for it to be as it was 30 or 40 years ago. Well it won't be. Those days are gone.

I saw a sign at a loft I visited about 10 years ago. It said "GET BIG OR GET OUT!" I was a bit offended at the time, having about 30 pigeons on total.
But he was right. Every form of competitive sport is getting bigger, more professionally organised and definitely more competitive.

[Diamond Dave]

Hey Murray. I'm certainly not attacking you for those views mate but I'm afraid that's not my perception of the situation.
Most ppl over here are getting older and reducing numbers coz they can't manage the amount they us3d to and then for me and many in my situ, I am having to reduce numbers because the cost of racing is becoming harder and harder for someone on a pension.

[CHARLTON34]

A large % of young adults aren't interested they only want the next new mobile, or what's the newest game that they will spend all night playing on there console/ computer.If you said to them about pigeon racing they wouldn't have a clue or show any interest. The cost to set up is another thing, plus feed ect & having enough time to do it properly due to family life.
Membership in clubs is ever decreasing due to age, & the never ending situation with issues like bop, the RPRA oh dear don't get me started on that, but I don't think they have what is left probably 12k membership left they are never going to move forward as it's just stagnating, they won't change or even consider moving forward, we are in 2026 not the 1950s. So yes the decline will continue.

[king]

And this is were I will be attacked for my views. I think the often repeated view that pigeon racing is in decline is wrong.

Pigeon racing is undergoing some big upheavals. It is like the racing stables when I was an apprentice in the 70's. Many yards had 20 or 40 , the big ones maybe 60 horses. These days the big stables have hundreds in training all the time and as many again on the books undergoing pre-training or rehab or whatever.
Same as the pigeons. There are one third of the lofts that there were 30 years ago. Many of them these days have gone from two dozen race birds to 300 race birds.
Where I live money racing is huge. The money invested and the prize money to be won is driving the sport.

What I am hearing, if you stop and listen, is a lot of people really don't just want the game to survive. What they really want is for it to be as it was 30 or 40 years ago. Well it won't be. Those days are gone.

I saw a sign at a loft I visited about 10 years ago. It said "GET BIG OR GET OUT!" I was a bit offended at the time, having about 30 pigeons on total.
But he was right. Every form of competitive sport is getting bigger, more professionally organised and definitely more competitive.

In some countries the sport is healthy and membership is increasing. BUT anybody who thinks that it's not in decline here in Europe is not living in the real world. I started in 1974 and from a 60 member club my local club is down to some weeks just 2 members sending. I'll agree that in other parts of the UK the sport is more healthy, but the overall picture is a slow demise. The numbers do not lie. For every 'new' member the sport in the UK it's losing 10 older members. And NO AMOUNT of money will reverse that trend. The idea that combining clubs or Feds does save running costs but it doesn't increase members, in fact it will lose members, as older fanciers are less likely to travel longer distances to mark their birds.

When I started the RPRA issued near on 1 MILLION rings. Today it's around 550,000 with 12,000 members, NEHU have 3,364 members and sell 131,200 rings. Belgium 15,500 members, selling 890,000 rings. Holland 15,374 members selling 870,000 rings ect.
China is very healthy 418,000 members selling 29 Million 363,100 thousand rings but their way of racing in the UK, would not be supported by either the fanciers or welfare groups.

[Buster121]

All the local clubs here have long gone

[Murray]

I guess it's an attitude thing.
Australians have a bit of a ":just do it" approach to things. When we re formed the Bendigo Invitation club a few years ago we had an online auction and many flyers from all over donated youngsters. It was a success and, cashed up, the club bought new ets systems for all the members and there were no fees or dues for about the first 5 years.
The club has a trailer and every member who can do so takes a turn taking it to the race point.
The city council gave the club a building free of charge as it was not being used, it has electric connected and the council pay for that too.
The sport is smaller than it was, but those who remain still enjoy it.
Talk of the death of the sport is forbidden.

[Murray]

And this is were I will be attacked for my views. I think the often repeated view that pigeon racing is in decline is wrong.

Pigeon racing is undergoing some big upheavals. It is like the racing stables when I was an apprentice in the 70's. Many yards had 20 or 40 , the big ones maybe 60 horses. These days the big stables have hundreds in training all the time and as many again on the books undergoing pre-training or rehab or whatever.
Same as the pigeons. There are one third of the lofts that there were 30 years ago. Many of them these days have gone from two dozen race birds to 300 race birds.
Where I live money racing is huge. The money invested and the prize money to be won is driving the sport.

What I am hearing, if you stop and listen, is a lot of people really don't just want the game to survive. What they really want is for it to be as it was 30 or 40 years ago. Well it won't be. Those days are gone.

I saw a sign at a loft I visited about 10 years ago. It said "GET BIG OR GET OUT!" I was a bit offended at the time, having about 30 pigeons on total.
But he was right. Every form of competitive sport is getting bigger, more professionally organised and definitely more competitive.

In some countries the sport is healthy and membership is increasing. BUT anybody who thinks that it's not in decline here in Europe is not living in the real world. I started in 1974 and from a 60 member club my local club is down to some weeks just 2 members sending. I'll agree that in other parts of the UK the sport is more healthy, but the overall picture is a slow demise. The numbers do not lie. For every 'new' member the sport in the UK it's losing 10 older members. And NO AMOUNT of money will reverse that trend. The idea that combining clubs or Feds does save running costs but it doesn't increase members, in fact it will lose members, as older fanciers are less likely to travel longer distances to mark their birds.

When I started the RPRA issued near on 1 MILLION rings. Today it's around 550,000 with 12,000 members, NEHU have 3,364 members and sell 131,200 rings. Belgium 15,500 members, selling 890,000 rings. Holland 15,374 members selling 870,000 rings ect.
China is very healthy 418,000 members selling 29 Million 363,100 thousand rings but their way of racing in the UK, would not be supported by either the fanciers or welfare groups.

What you are saying is true, king, but it doesn't mean the sport is dying, it just means it's losing it's appeal in some places and gaining in others. In western Europe, Holland, Belgium, France etc it is becoming the domain of the mega lofts alike Eijerkamp, Bas Verkerk, young Tom Van Gaver etc, while in Eastern Europe the hobby fanciers are growing in numbers.
I read that in the Philipines the sport is booming, many thousands of flyers now competing.
I believe that governments indirectly influence it too. In countries like the UK where everything is heavily regulated, everything gets so difficult and expensive that people just give up.
Over here, if some adenoidal nuisance with a clipboard turns up to audit your loft, you just tell them to bugger off.

[king]

And this is were I will be attacked for my views. I think the often repeated view that pigeon racing is in decline is wrong.

Pigeon racing is undergoing some big upheavals. It is like the racing stables when I was an apprentice in the 70's. Many yards had 20 or 40 , the big ones maybe 60 horses. These days the big stables have hundreds in training all the time and as many again on the books undergoing pre-training or rehab or whatever.
Same as the pigeons. There are one third of the lofts that there were 30 years ago. Many of them these days have gone from two dozen race birds to 300 race birds.
Where I live money racing is huge. The money invested and the prize money to be won is driving the sport.

What I am hearing, if you stop and listen, is a lot of people really don't just want the game to survive. What they really want is for it to be as it was 30 or 40 years ago. Well it won't be. Those days are gone.

I saw a sign at a loft I visited about 10 years ago. It said "GET BIG OR GET OUT!" I was a bit offended at the time, having about 30 pigeons on total.
But he was right. Every form of competitive sport is getting bigger, more professionally organised and definitely more competitive.

In some countries the sport is healthy and membership is increasing. BUT anybody who thinks that it's not in decline here in Europe is not living in the real world. I started in 1974 and from a 60 member club my local club is down to some weeks just 2 members sending. I'll agree that in other parts of the UK the sport is more healthy, but the overall picture is a slow demise. The numbers do not lie. For every 'new' member the sport in the UK it's losing 10 older members. And NO AMOUNT of money will reverse that trend. The idea that combining clubs or Feds does save running costs but it doesn't increase members, in fact it will lose members, as older fanciers are less likely to travel longer distances to mark their birds.

When I started the RPRA issued near on 1 MILLION rings. Today it's around 550,000 with 12,000 members, NEHU have 3,364 members and sell 131,200 rings. Belgium 15,500 members, selling 890,000 rings. Holland 15,374 members selling 870,000 rings ect.
China is very healthy 418,000 members selling 29 Million 363,100 thousand rings but their way of racing in the UK, would not be supported by either the fanciers or welfare groups.

What you are saying is true, king, but it doesn't mean the sport is dying, it just means it's losing it's appeal in some places and gaining in others. In western Europe, Holland, Belgium, France etc it is becoming the domain of the mega lofts alike Eijerkamp, Bas Verkerk, young Tom Van Gaver etc, while in Eastern Europe the hobby fanciers are growing in numbers.
I read that in the Philipines the sport is booming, many thousands of flyers now competing.
I believe that governments indirectly influence it too. In countries like the UK where everything is heavily regulated, everything gets so difficult and expensive that people just give up.
Over here, if some adenoidal nuisance with a clipboard turns up to audit your loft, you just tell them to bugger off.

Yes but how does knowing the sport is booming thousands of miles away help those in Countries where it is in terminal decline? I'm not sure fanciers in Europe who are seeing a decline around them take any solace knowing that

[Murray]

I'm sure that you can tell I'm just sort of playing the Devil's advocate here a little bit.
I know that in many places pigeon racing is in steep decline, and even where it is thriving it is a different sport than it was even 20 years ago.
Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is open to debate I guess, but we all simply have to accept that it will survive in a different form.
What I'm trying to do is encourage, provoke?, people into actually thinking about it.
No, we can't turn back the clock. No, we probably can't stop the sport from dying in some places. But we can give it a bloody good try.

I'll tell you something. Horse racing is massive, huge, in Australia. Each State has their own administration. In New South Wales the industry was in trouble after some decades of average administration. They appointed Peter V'landys, a corporate trouble shooter to fix it. In a decade NSW racing leads the country.
Rather than paying endless fees to the RPRA to oversee the managed death of pigeon racing, a proper sports administrator could be appointed with a simple job description.
Fix This.