LETTER FROM AUTHOR JIM EMERTON.
The BICC and the central ethos and organisation represent the finest and purest opportunities for the distance and marathon fancier of now. However ,to expand further and develop racing in the UK and Ireland, expansion northwards is needed to produce those great individual pigeons and the masters who fly them. It is a club open to all as well as the specialist elite fanciers. I cut my teeth in the BICC, some 23 years ago with the verification of 3 birds at 879 miles Barcelona International. Time for the men of the North to topple that result!
Jim Emerton /Author.
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Letter from Frank Kay!
Surely the time has come for quality races from overseas rather than quality. The number of organisations needs to be reduced . The NFC and the Midland National need to step aside, and let the BICC. take centre stage, and bring International racing to the forefront. Marking Stations in the North to allow every fancier to take part. The BICC have the best system with birds payed for on the day, as we can no longer fill the transporters. If we wish to save what is left of this great sport the time has come to get together and fly the flag for the UK.
Frank Kay.
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THE HIGHS OF PIGEON RACING.
The sport is psychological, a mental buzz from top to bottom. You can be top prise winner, a salesman ,a writer, mentor, a poet, a strain builder ,a philosopher and a philanthropist, a famous icon or a legend in the sport. With talent, practical skill and good birds ,your little world may be a richer place fuelled by love and enthusiasm for the humble pigeon. To me the ultimate lifting of the spirit was found in marathon International racing, the people I know and the books I have written. My journey through Afghanistan into the Himalaya has yielded insights of a profound nature.
Jim Emerton.
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THE EXPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL RACING.
I would like to see unity in terms of the UK approach to distance and marathon racing. This may appeal to people who want the serious test and challenge of races beyond the 500 miles mark. In reality ,the people in the major National type clubs would forget political, geographical ,insular and geographical boundaries in the common goal and objective of racing on a grand scale with a large radius and birdage in the best races in Europe. In race reality we could praise and reward the best fanciers and birds in the UK. In practical/philosophical and psychological terms it is a very ambitious concept ,that may stimulate some response and thought, created to make you think on a grand scale. If academic only, the idea is visionary . However, to avoid stagnation UK racing needs a fresh injection of initiative and energy.
Jim Emerton.
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LETTER FROM JIM EMERTON.
With meetings coming up and changes in policy evolving, let us take a logical and needed look at the status of distance/marathon racing in the UK? To inject a fresh lease of life and to lift the sport to another level ,there are logical steps and intuitive leaps we can take, with tight organisation in the future. The best test of distance/marathon fanciers and to find and prove good to great birds, lies in a united structure and race programme involving the BICC/NFC/BBC AND MNFC. The practical/logistical application of this concept is very complex, and could be resolved by the union of minds in a common purpose and objective. Just imagine the quality of fancier and bird emerging when political and personality boundaries are made flexible? Food for creative thought I perceive?
Jim Emerton.
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