What Can Be Done To Move The Sport Forward?

[kingziemckay]

Well you put the post up, maybe you can start with something with your experience with the doos.

 

My view is, its far too expensive, for any person coming in, no matter how much you try and help someone to get kicked off.

 

the sport is only as expensive as you want it to be,,,

[sandy25]

When you read last weeks 26 2 16 BHW Alton HS in the Staffordshire fed disbanded and 8 members applied to their nearest club which was well within the radius only 2 members were allowed in the rest have no other fed to fly in,this is something we see to many times so think we should be trying to keep our own kind in the sport and get our own house in order and then try and get new blood interested.

And we wonder whats the problem sometimes it seems to me that petty beauracy and the whole system from the grass up needs looked at new radii worked on anything that stops this kind of thing from happening seems that the sport isnt so much dying but being killed off....

[Ian McKay]

When you read last weeks 26 2 16 BHW Alton HS in the Staffordshire fed disbanded and 8 members applied to their nearest club which was well within the radius only 2 members were allowed in the rest have no other fed to fly in,this is something we see to many times so think we should be trying to keep our own kind in the sport and get our own house in order and then try and get new blood interested.

 

 

Don't need to go to England it's happening on our door step ask D Hay ?

[geordie1234]

Don't need to go to England it's happening on our door step ask D Hay ?

Yes 8 years with no club bt happy to see he has a club now

[Blue Tooner]

It's the old story every time what excuse can I find to do nothing ?

 

Get sponsorship

 

Increase prize money

 

Club officials should do more

 

Unions should do more

 

Reduce fees pigeon racing is to dear?

 

Everybody should do more while you all sit at home and do nothing at the club

 

The answer to our problems is in our own hands we are just too lazy to do anything but complain

 

 

My Club / Fed / Union Fees + rings are approx £200 reasonable I think

 

 

All I need is some doos and food and I am off

 

Pigeon loft you don't need a spacious palace my first loft!! was an orange box and it kept me happy for years

 

There is no shortage of money to buy birds

 

Think about the above and ask yourself what have you done to promote the sport or help out at Club or Fed

 

How many times have you given a new start the help they need

 

I see Peters reason for not letting a youngster into his garden or loft but you could have made arrangements for the lad to return with one of his parents or went and visited them asking for there advice,but it's not good enough kids and new starts need our help cause they will not get it anywhere else

 

We need to take a long look at our sport and help it or we are doomed

 

Falling members

Falling birdage

Transporters 60% empty but we will still not help each other

Unions trying to stop other unions

Stupid unnecessary suspension only to prove how powerful they are

Times are hard and getting harder we need to pull together

 

Sorry lad's it will never happen we are destroying ourselves

 

100% correct Ian.

[Ian McKay]

Yes 8 years with no club bt happy to see he has a club now

 

 

Great news Geordie :emoticon-0137-clapping: :emoticon-0137-clapping: :scotland: :scotland:

[We man]

Don't need to go to England it's happening on our door step ask D Hay ?

Yes Ian,well aware of what goes on and have been there,but it still goes on but happy to be in a club that told Derek he would be more than welcome to join us but as it would mean quite a travel for him it was not feasible,glad to say our members would have been over the moon to have a top flyer like Derek to fly against,i will not name our club,that says it all.

[dal2]

A big problem for the newbie has to be the money. The loft is the least of the problems, fees,feeding,jagging even before the pigeons themselves. If I was a newbie I would look at a dog kennel and run and modify it because I see these manufacturer prices then look at my fallen down shed and quickly come to the conclusion that the birds aren't that snobby when it comes to their home lol

[blue pied]

Don't need to go to England it's happening on our door step ask D Hay ?

D hay is in a club?

[Ian McKay]

D hay is in a club?

 

 

Aye after 8yrs :emoticon-0179-headbang:

[blue pied]

Aye after 8yrs :emoticon-0179-headbang:

I thought it was 6 but glad he has a club, he will win his fair share in campsie I think and will do well in the east side of the fed I think.

[Ian McKay]

I thought it was 6 but glad he has a club, he will win his fair share in campsie I think and will do well in the east side of the fed I think.

 

 

I stood to be corrected by Geordie but glad he is in the fold

 

Yes he will win his fair share no matter where he is :emoticon-0136-giggle:

[nogin]

I'LL 2ND THAT WAN, WELL DONE DEL

[Paul Mac 31]

Most of the problems facing the sport is caused by the fancier themselves.

1. Hawk problem

( which could be dealt with if everyone came together and did X Y and Z)

 

2. Amalgamation of clubs

( which wont happen as their are far too many fanciers like to be the big fish in a smal pond)

 

3. Prize money and pools

( no young guy is gonna get involved with pigeons, 90% of guys my age that dont know a thing about pigeon racing will ask how much do u win... and when u tell them the answer they laugh and say whats the point in that... Sad but this is the reality.. prize money..has kickstarted snooker and darts which if you go back 15 - 20 years were on their *expletive removed*.. now you have young guys doninating it..

 

4.Federation Combines

( big races, more birds, more prestige.)

 

5. Ran in a more professional manner

( after all it is a sport, from the libs to the presentation night, it should be done with a bit more class.. thats one thing i will say that the national does well... somewhere were you can take the wife and friends thus increasing numbers attending.. hats off to airdrie club they run agreat night.

7 or 8 trophys were not collected at the last lanarkshire Fed presentation, to which baffles me.. you dont win prize money all you have is the prestige of winning a Cup..

 

All the above can be put right... even the hawk problem..but they all involve fanciers coming together and agreeing which is the overall killer in the the pigeon game

[Guest paulrstokes]

without appearing apathetic, I feel we are nearing the point of no return.

 

The only way I can see forward is encouraging the non flying public to become involved, by offering pigeon ownership.

 

Greyhounds and horses are owned by the public that use trainers to train them.

 

How do we get this started, A pilot would be a loft on a school grounds and each class owns 2-3 pigeons, there is a nice big trophy that moves from class to class dependant on that weeks winner. Newsletters are sent home to parents and after a hopefully couple of successful years then pigeons are offered to the parents and grandparents for £50 per season they will compete in a series of races and prizes awarded.

 

If this is successful then you could move it up the scale and start advertising birds for sale and annual training fees, birds will be entered in Nationals and Internationals where £1000's can be won, even highlight Pipa prices for winning birds etc etc.

Imagine a national won to a trainers loft with a bird owned by a non flying fancier.

 

A long long way off but it could work!!!!

[JohnQuinn]

It's the old story every time what excuse can I find to do nothing ?

 

Get sponsorship

 

Increase prize money

 

Club officials should do more

 

Unions should do more

 

Reduce fees pigeon racing is to dear?

 

Everybody should do more while you all sit at home and do nothing at the club

 

The answer to our problems is in our own hands we are just too lazy to do anything but complain

 

 

My Club / Fed / Union Fees + rings are approx £200 reasonable I think

 

 

All I need is some doos and food and I am off

 

Pigeon loft you don't need a spacious palace my first loft!! was an orange box and it kept me happy for years

 

There is no shortage of money to buy birds

 

Think about the above and ask yourself what have you done to promote the sport or help out at Club or Fed

 

How many times have you given a new start the help they need

 

I see Peters reason for not letting a youngster into his garden or loft but you could have made arrangements for the lad to return with one of his parents or went and visited them asking for there advice,but it's not good enough kids and new starts need our help cause they will not get it anywhere else

 

We need to take a long look at our sport and help it or we are doomed

 

Falling members

Falling birdage

Transporters 60% empty but we will still not help each other

Unions trying to stop other unions

Stupid unnecessary suspension only to prove how powerful they are

Times are hard and getting harder we need to pull together

 

Sorry lad's it will never happen we are destroying ourselves

 

ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘👠Never a truer post on the subject.

[Ian McKay]

Most of the problems facing the sport is caused by the fancier themselves.

1. Hawk problem

( which could be dealt with if everyone came together and did X Y and Z)

 

2. Amalgamation of clubs

( which wont happen as their are far too many fanciers like to be the big fish in a smal pond)

 

3. Prize money and pools

( no young guy is gonna get involved with pigeons, 90% of guys my age that dont know a thing about pigeon racing will ask how much do u win... and when u tell them the answer they laugh and say whats the point in that... Sad but this is the reality.. prize money..has kickstarted snooker and darts which if you go back 15 - 20 years were on their *expletive removed*.. now you have young guys doninating it..

 

4.Federation Combines

( big races, more birds, more prestige.)

 

5. Ran in a more professional manner

( after all it is a sport, from the libs to the presentation night, it should be done with a bit more class.. thats one thing i will say that the national does well... somewhere were you can take the wife and friends thus increasing numbers attending.. hats off to airdrie club they run agreat night.

7 or 8 trophys were not collected at the last lanarkshire Fed presentation, to which baffles me.. you dont win prize money all you have is the prestige of winning a Cup..

 

All the above can be put right... even the hawk problem..but they all involve fanciers coming together and agreeing which is the overall killer in the the pigeon game

 

 

 

Paul the kids nowadays play computer games 24 /7 they don't get prize money

 

Or wet, exercise,dirty hands,and do not know how to look after animals

[Paul Mac 31]

Im talking about guys in their 30s ian... i know plenty of guys that would get involved if their was good prize money in it..

look at golf darts snooker all guys in their 20's to 30's that are dominating it.. really competitive..

As i have said before plenty of fanciers will spend alot more on their drink and smoke but the birds that they keep 365 days a year are not worth a 5 pound pool.... maddness.

[Tony C]

The unions must get together and get a PR firm on their books. We need a professional outfit to highlight the good work that is/has been done re donations to charitable causes. We have to dispel myths held by the general public, we have to highlight the destruction BOP are causing not just our pigeons but to the wild birds too. We could place clever adverts in daily papers and maybe go back to placing results in them as well.

 

We need to open doors!

[Ian McKay]

The unions must get together and get a PR firm on their books. We need a professional outfit to highlight the good work that is/has been done re donations to charitable causes. We have to dispel myths held by the general public, we have to highlight the destruction BOP are causing not just our pigeons but to the wild birds too. We could place clever adverts in daily papers and maybe go back to placing results in them as well.

 

We need to open doors!

 

 

Unfortunately Tony a lot of doors are shut to us

 

Papers up here not interested in printing our results

 

Your ideas are good and in the right direction

[Ian McKay]

Im talking about guys in their 30s ian... i know plenty of guys that would get involved if their was good prize money in it..

look at golf darts snooker all guys in their 20's to 30's that are dominating it.. really competitive..

As i have said before plenty of fanciers will spend alot more on their drink and smoke but the birds that they keep 365 days a year are not worth a 5 pound pool.... maddness.

 

 

Problem is Pigeon Racing is not played on an even field or table where your performance is the main criteria

 

Overfly,loft position , weather and wind all play there part,how much you can afford to pay for birds non of this in golf or snooker

 

There are thousands of kids paying £40 to £100 for a computer game and no prize money we still cannot attract them even to look at Pigeons and when they do we do not grasp the offer

[Upsndoons]

I was thinking along the same lines.

 

If we want to survive is there a way we can get the betting public involved in pigeon racing. I am not a horse racing or dog man myself but one thing is for sure, if a bookie can make a buck from any punters betting on the weather, the snow on xmas day and that stuff surely we can think of some way of getting Joe Public to bet on pigeon racing.

 

One loft races might be a good start ? Let Joe Public bet on a number of birds in a race with one fee and increase his chances of a win,

 

Of course I could simple be deluded.

 

Fire away

[Ian McKay]

I was thinking along the same lines.

 

If we want to survive is there a way we can get the betting public involved in pigeon racing. I am not a horse racing or dog man myself but one thing is for sure, if a bookie can make a buck from any punters betting on the weather, the snow on xmas day and that stuff surely we can think of some way of getting Joe Public to bet on pigeon racing.

 

One loft races might be a good start ? Let Joe Public bet on a number of birds in a race with one fee and increase his chances of a win,

 

Of course I could simple be deluded.

 

Fire away

 

 

Your not delude M8 but I think One Loft Races would be the start If we could get a bookmaker interested

 

Biggest problem in one loft races is disease as we do not have enough vets conversant with pigeons

 

Why does a food manufacturer / supplier not get involved have a really good loft manager and vet, with proper transport if that could happen then we might get a bookmaker involved, with ETS timing and results available immediately it's possible

 

Great idea but how can we enforce it and get it started

 

We need to start thinking outside the box for ideas

 

Have we a well heeled pigeon fancier willing to take it further it does not need a huge loft

 

Paul Mac would be a good place to start good fancier within a big Fed with good results using his own birds so as to eliminate disease

 

Can this go further only if we think bigger than Club and Fed

 

If this is possible the last race y/b National could be televised for the bookies

 

I know it's pie in the sky but so was the idea of Aberdeen Fed getting a brand new transporter from lottery funding but hey ho with a big bit of work and commitment we got our New Geraldy in 2007 the first time the Fed and only time the Fed will have a new vehicle

 

Thanks to some friends I started a simple one loft race with 40 birds ended up having 5 syndicates each with £2400 prize money and over subscribed every time

 

So come on lads let's have some ideas to save our sports

 

As you say if the bookie can make money he will be interested

 

So doo I have a well heeled backer for my stupid ideas :emoticon-0179-headbang:

 

There have been some good ideas in One Loft Races but have fallen by the wayside because of bad management and not enough thought and honesty

 

I am open to helping out if someone is willing to try

 

I see Ian French trying hard with the help of the Midlands National I wish him well why can it not be done in Scotland

[Upsndoons]

Think we frightened them all away Ian.

[Ian McKay]

Think we frightened them all away Ian.

 

 

Good ideas and the truth always does they cannot see further than there nose :emoticon-0136-giggle: