Certificate of Merit Awards 2017.
by
John Clements
In 1979 a revolution in UK Pigeons happened. It wasn't a noisy blood letting revolution, this revolution was quiet almost to the point of not being noticed at all . For most fanciers it still isn't noticed. It goes under the name of the National Flying Club ‘Certificate of Merit'. The reason why it is revolutionary is because this award takes ‘chance’ out of pigeon racing and replaced it with something genuine. .
The traditional first prize highest velocity system always has a bit of chance along with it. 'The wind was helping' or It was a slow start and a fast finish made winning possible. There always are bits of good fortune to explain why a pigeon happens to win a first prize but the NFC 'Certificate of Merit' attempts to rule chance or luck down to being the least possible. If a pigeon homes from Tarbes one it is pretty good but if it does it three times the chance that it was a fluke is completely ruled out. That is what a pigeon must do to gain the award. That is why this award is so good.
Still, this revolutionary way of finding genuine pigeon excellence has a bit to go before it gets fully accepted by the pigeon establishment. Potential award winners still have to apply; it is not given automatically and is still not part of the annual list of trophy winners. . That I am sure change will come later as our thinking evolves.
This year was a good year for Certificate of Merit winners. There were three of them. One (the longest flying ever) being in Yorkshire. I intend to write a piece about all of them over the next few months to highlight this unique award and what it can do for the UK sport now and in the future.
The first article is for a pigeon called 'Sam’s Girl' owned by Steve Redfern and Family of Derby. Steve Redfern has concentrated on long marathon racing with considerable success for many years so 'Sams Girl' comes from an already good background.
Sam’s Girl' is a seven year old pigeon that has flown Tarbes four times, always in the prizes. There is therefore no luck there. This Hens three qualifying performances were 36th Open Tarbes in 2012 - 198th Open Tarbes in 2013 and 125th Open Tarbes in 2017.The Redfern distance from Tarbes is 671 Miles.
‘Sam’s Girl is a fine example of the 1979 revolution when the ‘Cert of Merit ‘ Award first started. Here is a pigeon that is excellent without luck by virtue of it being consistent of many years. Only 36 Pigeons have so far won a Certificate of Merit - Some NFC Sections still have yet to win one and in some years there is a blank where no pigeon qualifies. The total send to the NFC’s longest race since 1979 is 137,898 pigeons so a mere 36 pigeons that have won this award shows how difficult it is to win one.
The 1979 quite revolution still has to grab the attention of most of the fancy - There is still an attempt to tame this award and bring it to heel as not being exceptional. Probably because it undermines the usual first prize thinking associated with selling pigeons. I cannot think of one ‘Certificate of Merit’ pigeon up to now that has ever been sold.
.
1.’Sam’s Girl’ bred and raced by Steve Redfern and Family of Derby. Sam’s Girl has flown the NFC Tarbes four times - being 4th Section - 9th Section- 13th Section and 7th Section flying 671 miles. A Certificate of Merit Award winner in 2017
2.’Champion Number 8’ a cock bred and races by JL Roberts of Marple before the ‘Certificate of Merit’ award idea was introduced. This Kirkpatrick cock was a Grandson of ‘Galabank Prince’ - He won an RPRA ‘Meritorious Award’ for being 1st section and 3rd NFC Pau in 1960. Meritorious Awards are still held in great esteem today.