Today we continue to present you the success story of the Koopman family in pigeon sport. If in the previous material we focused on its beginnings, especially those of master Cornelis Koopamn, and then on the results of the father-son tandem Cornelis-Gerard, today we will know the pairs of pigeons that form the basis of the Koopman line.

When Gerard decided to give up football and join his father in pigeon sport, he amazed everyone who knew him. That's because the performance has increased incredibly much, and the evolution was "scary". But on top of that, Gerard wanted even more. It didn't matter that he had to ride a few hours to Poppel, to his mentor Louis Van Loon. He knew that before he reached the top of the pigeon fanciers, he had to talk and listen to the masters of this sport. He kept everything he was told about the pigeons and then applied to the family farm. But something else made him a great champion. It has an exceptional feeling (n.r. intuition) in good pigeons. He did not need to buy many young pigeons, because he sensed from the start those who were of good quality. When they visited Louis Van Loon or the Janssen brothers, Gerard had a lucky hand and always chose the best breeders.

Visiting the Janssen brothers

Visiting Louis van Loon in Poppel

However, today, when we talk about Koopman pigeons, we can no longer say that they come from the Janssen or Van Loon line. No, because Gerard and Cornelis formed their own line of pigeons. Koopman pigeons have a special character and will never get tired of winning. I am almost invincible all over the world on 100-800 km races. However, three breeding pairs of pigeons played an important role in obtaining them:

Pair number 1: “48 ″ NL78 - 1342748 and“ Gouden Duifje ”B81 - 6116737

These two pigeons, mentioned in the first part of the story, were paired with each other in 1985 and a golden combination resulted. The pair produced a chicken that became a legend. It is about the “Zitter” pigeon, which won 1st place in Den Bosch out of 4,550 pigeons, 1st place in Strombeek out of 2,788 pigeons and 2nd place in Venette out of 6,369 pigeons, etc. The pigeon "Beatrixdoffer" NL 88-2763998 is also the son of this pair. He had exceptional results: 1st place St. Ghislain on the route "Beatrix", against 10,828 pigeons and 4th place out of 3,717 pigeons in another edition of the competition. Then he became a very good breeder: he is the father of "Zeno" NL92-5310364, an Olympic pigeon in Utrecht and the pigeon "959-94", the number 1 breeder of the famous Günter Prange. Through this pigeon, "Beatrixdoffer" became the grandfather of the famous "Ringlose", which generated many award-winning pigeons in the category AS National Germany. "Zitter" reproduced "Ons Louis" NL 88-2763913, winner of the 1st place National Bourges (700km) in 1993 out of 7,688 pigeons. His best known son is "Branco" NL 94 - 2227820, pigeon participating in the 1997 Basel Olympics, and the father of the super pigeon "Zebran" NL 97-2252958. In his turn, he is the father of the “Wonder Lady” pigeon NL 99 - 5771339, the winner of the 1st National Orleans place out of 5,163 pigeons. Paired with "Paloma", "Zitter" reproduced "Gandor" NL 94 - 2227906. "Gandor" is the father of the pigeon "Indira", winner of the 1st place Provincial St.Ghislain and the grandfather of the 1st place As Germany 2002.

Pair number 2: Raket 84 ″ B84-6726519 (Janssen) and B85 - 6294112 (Louis van Loon)

Here we find two genealogical lines that underlie the Koopman pigeons: Janssen and Van Loon. "Raket 84" is a son of "Jonge Raket v. 76", a pigeon of the Janssen brothers. He paired with Louis van Loon's "112" pigeon, and they reproduced many exceptional pigeons. NL88-4024619, winner of 1st place Uden (out of 15,511 pigeons), 1st place Beek (out of 14,881 pigeons), 1st place St. Ghislain (out of 2,206 pigeons) etc. Certainly "Eric" is one of the most important pigeons that He is the father of the “De Sultan” pigeon, the winner of the 1st place Etampes (out of 15,750 pigeons), 22 minutes ahead, but also the father of the fabulous “Gentil” NL 92 - 5310320, a pigeon that represented the Netherlands at the Olympics in Basel in 1997. In addition to this Olympic title, in 1995, "Gentil" was declared World Cross Country Champion, and in 1994 he placed 4th in the World Cross Country Championships, but as a breeder "Gentil" was very good. he became the father of many famous pigeons, which form the basis of the Koopman line.

Pair number 3: “Gentil” NL 92-5310320 and “Golden Lady” Belg 96 - 6286060 (Dirk and Louis Van Dyck)

The male of this special pair was presented above. Of course, he needed an extraordinary female, which Gerard, with his extraordinary intuition, found. In the winter of 1997, the pigeon fancier magazine organized an auction to honor the results of the champions of that year. Gerard had eyes only for a late female, the daughter of the famous "Kannibaal", winner of the 1st place As Demifond Belgium 1996. Because he had made the pairing in mind, he decided to buy it. Of course, he was not the only one who wanted this, but because Gerard was convinced of his great qualities, he decided to pay a considerable sum to bring it to the breeding aviaries in Nieuw Amsterdam, where he wrote history. He let it grow in peace, and in 1998 he mated it with "Gentil". It was a very good decision, because they reproduced an exceptional pigeon: "Kleine Dirk" NL98-5821416. It marked the beginning of a new era, because in the years that followed this pair reproduced champions one after another. Probably no other breeding pair has had such a big impact in the world of modern pigeon sport.

The farm in Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Source of information and photos: www.gerardkoopman.com