C. & G. Koopman - Ermerveen (NL) Trilogy (part 1) The making of … a world pedigree

Not to mention the countless fanciers who managed to find their way firstly to New Amsterdam and later Ermerveen, looking for ‘the Koopman pigeon’; because that is a guarantee of success. Where many now want to build ‘a stock’ with the wondrous clappers of Gerard and Cornelis at the basis, in the middle of the 70’s these men were in search of super blood lines for reaching the top … On the evening prior to the auction of 40 youngsters on Pipa, Gerard looks back in a unique trilogy at thirty years of pigeon sport by the Koopman family… part 1: the coming into existence of their marvelous stock of pigeons.

“Our family was actually mad about animals and because dad and my brother Jaap already raced pigeons, this hobby held a special place within our family. It was only when I was injured playing football that I started looking for a new challenge and the pigeon sport seemed to be the perfect opportunity. I could battle with my brother Jaap every week and I soon said to my father; ‘we are going to form a duo’. That went very well, mainly because he already had very good pigeons via, amongst others, mister Anema from Friesland, later Eefde.  He had a magnificent colony of pigeons, direct from the brothers Janssen from Arendonk. Toppers, who were especially unbeatable in real pigeon weather! That was then also the basis when ‘the combination Cornelis and Gerard Koopman’ stood in the results for the first time. Our toppers at that moment were ‘De Kneet’ and ‘De Vooruit’, all real toppers that would soon be world famous these days. ‘De Kneet’ won 4 first prizes in big races and ‘De Vooruit’ was best sprint pigeon of the Netherlands Wie Heeft Ze Beter in 1981. Reason enough for us to go and visit the brothers in Arendonk.”

‘De Vooruit’ was
1st Nat. Ace pigeon sprint WHZB 1981 and won a.o.
1st St. Ghislain 3.206 p.,
2nd Zutphen 3.404 p.,
2nd Strombeek 684 p.,
3rd Strombeek 2.608 p.,
14th Beek 3.158 p.,
19th Venlo 2.965 p.
All these prizes were won in TWO months.

‘De Kneet’ won a.o.
1st Strombeek 2.988 p.,
1st St. Ghislain 2.573 p.,
1st Strombeek 2.535 p.,
1st Strombeek 1.787 p.,
1st Compiègne 1.655 p.,
3rd Strombeek 2.135 p.,
3rd Orleans 1.986 p.,
7th Strombeek 3.478 p.,
7th St. Ghislain 1.811 p.,
8th Beek 3.494 p.

A unique combination
At the beginning of the eighties the Janssens were already established stars and their pigeons performed extremely well by us; we really had to go back to the source for reinforcements. In the course of four years we bought twenty pigeons and two of them turned out to be of invaluable worth. The ‘Gouden Duifje’ in particular turned out to be a formidable breeding hen, although this was not the original reason why we gave her this name; it was because she was wearing a golden ring for a separate competition in Arendonk. The distribution of these rings was limited so it was logical that the pigeons that were given these rings were thought to have the most chance of success. The mother of our ‘Gouden Duifje’ is a half-sister of the 019 … In the continuous search for ‘wonder pigeons’ I had often noticed the name Louis van Loon in my sport magazine De Duif. We bought a voucher from him and on the suggestion of Koos Tjeerdsma from Almelo we decided to travel to Poppel. To me, Louis van Loon is the greatest pigeon fancier that I have ever met. He doesn’t say a lot, but is gifted with being able to say in a few words how the essential affairs work. I believe this is what shows the master. He has made it clear to me like no other that it is important to differentiate main issues from side issues. By Louis this is all based on years of experience and tests in practice. Another fancier who has taught me a great deal is Jules Rijkaert from the Belgian Sint Amandsberg. He taught me a great deal about taking care of pigeons and you can be more efficient with your colony in general. Wise lessons then, which I learnt a great deal from.

Visiting the brothers Janssen in Arendonk (BE)

”Basis couple ‘De 48’ x ‘Gouden Duifje’”
The Van Loon pigeons, together with Janssens, via Anema and later various directs started to form the basis of our colony. In addition we also searched for individual quality and at the end of the seventies we noticed a pigeon in the area, ‘De 48’from Herman Ameln, a pigeon that was almost impossible to race against; such a topper. He won the title third National middle distance pigeon Wie Heeft Ze Beter in 1979. When Herman stopped with the sport we were there straight away to try to obtain this pigeon. Herman was really upset when he handed over the pigeon to me and he had goose bumps on his arm. What a classy pigeon it became, especially coupled with the ‘Gouden Duifje’, the best jewel that we ever bought form the brothers Janssen. From this couple we bred a.o.‘De Zitter’, in turn father of the 1st NPO winner ‘Ons Louis’, who in turn bred Olympiad pigeon ‘Branco’’. With the ‘Beatrix cock’ – another super son of ‘De 48’ x ‘Gouden Duifje’ – it is no different. His son is Olympiad pigeon ‘Zeno’, but also many grandchildren were icons, so as the famous ‘959’, who in turn was father of the famous ‘Ringlose’ from Günter Prange. This ‘Ringlose’ is father and grandfather of the 5th national Ace pigeon in Germany. Toppers then, time and time again, generation after generation … and so the Koopman stock developed further and further. 

By Louis Van Loon in Poppel (BE)

Shortly on PIPA:
C. & G. Koopman Trilogy (part 2) – global awareness
C. & G. Koopman Trilogy (part 3) – world pedigree nr. 1

‘Zitter’
1st Den Bosch           4.550 p.
1st Strombeek           2.788 p.
2nd Venette           6.369 p.
Son ‘De 48’ x ‘Gouden Duifje’

‘Beatrix cock’.
1st St. Ghislain        10.828 p.
Son ‘De 48’ x ‘Gouden Duifje’

‘Ons Louis’
1st NPO Bourges      7.688 p.
Son ‘Zitter’
Grandson ‘De 48’ x ‘Gouden Duifje’

‘Zeno’
Olympiad pigeon Utrecht 1995
Son ‘Beatrix cock’
Grandson ‘De 48’ x ‘Gouden Duifje’

‘Branco’
Olympiad pigeon Basel 1997
Grandfather ‘Wonder Lady’, 1. NPO Orleans 5.163 p.
Son ‘Ons Louis’
Grandson ‘Zitter’
Great grandson ‘De 48’ x ‘Gouden Duifje’