As the youngest from the nest, Pierre Coppens from Moorsel followed the example of his father and older brothers and, like them, became infected with the pigeon virus. Pierre was a passionate pigeon lover with a fondness for the heavy long-distance races, with Perpignan and Barcelona as the highlights of the season. The further the better, the heavier the more preferred. Pierre's pigeons always performed best in races under the toughest conditions, with headwinds and tropical temperatures, "where the boys are separated from the men," so to speak.
Breed Development
To form his own heavy long-distance breeding line, Pierre has been approaching the best long-distance players of the time in Belgium and the Netherlands since the 1970s. He directly collected pigeons from, among others, Piet Lazeroms, Vrösch-Meijers, Jean Hausoul, Georges Carteus, Antoon and Luci van der Wegen, and later Jac van der Wegen from the line of "Oud Doffertje," Roger Vereecke, Maria-Kaelen and Willy Broers, world champion 1991, Ko Van Dommelen, Gebr. Saya, Marcel Aelbrecht (from all the best lines!), Jan Ernest, Sam de Jong, Chris van der Velden, Jac Steketee, Gebr Hagens, Luc van Coppenolle, Delrue-Vanbruaene, Leo Kloots, Rik Stevens - Reuver, Cor de Heijde directly and via Henry Visser.
Moreover, Pierre has been very good friends with the Kempeneers family from Nieuwerkerken to this day, and since the 1980s, pigeons from this valuable loft, Pierre's breeding loft, regularly reinforced his stock, first through father Jos Kempeneers and later through the sons Valère and Wim. The Kempeneers family was then and still is known for their exceptionally strong pigeons, which often trace their origins back to top Dutch lofts such as Cor de Heijde, Gebr. Brugemann, Cees van de Graaf, Theelen, and Brinkman. Additionally, the strain of Jan Aarden remains strongly intertwined in the Kempeneers pigeons, notably through the top purchase of breeding pigeon and super breeder '131/65' from Jan Aarden.
From these top origins, extensive breeding and testing took place, allowing Pierre to build his own strain that could perform under the harshest conditions. In recent years, additional reinforcement was sought from Raemdonck-Ruys from Hamme, winner of, among other things, the Zilveren Vleugel Barcelona 2010 and recently the 3rd National Montélimar 2020 and the 1st International Ace Pigeon Agen 2021-2022. Among others, Kristof Mortelmans built his loft from pigeons from Raemdonck-Ruys, and his breeding pigeons "Jelle," "Zwarte Staart," and "Dannie Narbonne" were even bred at the lofts in Hamme.
Pierre's ongoing ambition was shown last year when he acquired reinforcement from none other than Geert De Schepper from Gooik, where a daughter from "Dark Kimboy" was purchased, and moreover, he acquired 3 pigeons from the Dutch top talent Willem-Jan Tielemans.
Highlights from Pierre Coppens' past include, without a doubt, the 24th National Barcelona 2002, the 19th National St-Vincent 2008, 48th International Soustons Youngsters 2010, and 2nd Provincial Ace Pigeon Grote Fond 2011.
In recent years, due to health reasons, Pierre could hardly participate in the races, but in the extremely strenuous Perpignan of 2022, the only race he participated in that year, his pigeons once again proved to be bred for the toughest conditions, achieving the following result with very limited preparation in Denderbond Ninove: 4th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 26th (5/10) from 90d. Also in 2019, an impressive result was achieved under tough conditions at Perpignan in Land van Aalst, Hofstade: 3rd, 5th, 15th, 21st, 38th, 40th (6/7) from 134d.
What characterized the man Pierre was that he could enjoy, even more than his own achievements, the successes of other enthusiasts who achieved results with his pigeons. Those fortunate enough to acquire something from Pierre were served with the utmost care. Many enthusiasts succeeded with Pierre's pigeons, such as Van Laere-De Corte (Kalken), Frans Raes (Moorsel), and many others. At Noël Wouter and Steven (Gijzegem), a male pigeon from Pierre was acquired at an auction at the beginning of 2020. A daughter flew 7th at Barcelona in 2023, and a son came in 2nd at Perpignan.
After the sudden and unexpected passing of Pierre this summer, the day after his favorite race Barcelona, the treasure chest will open one last time for everyone, and all the pigeons will be auctioned. It would give Pierre immense pleasure to bring his fellow pigeon lovers and friends together once more to enjoy his life's work and admire his gems again.