We can’s ignore it. The news that caused the must fuss in “pigeon country” this year was undoubtedly that announced farewell to – of what is more than likely one of the greatest surviving names in modern pigeon racing namely Gerard Koopman.
Gerard…ever humble and recent winner of 1st OLR Pattaya 2025 edition – is a sports legend in his lifetime.
Meanwhile the total auction has been organized in December 2024. Thanks to the professional guidance of Team Herbots and Team De Duif, the 621 Koopman birds has been sold for an average price of 6,641€ ! Toppers such as “Remzi” (sold for 172,500€) and “Coby” (sold for 180,000€) were the “highlights”. The Koopman birds were sold to 22 different countries world-wide!
Naturally, during this talk we will talk about “the end of an era,” however, much more we will simply talk about Gerard’s life and work, his travels, his exploration of the world and life. We will engage in conversation with a man who stands on the threshold of the beginning of a new era. A conversation, then, about these and many other milestones in the life of Gerard Koopman, the gentlest champion the sport has ever known.
Thus, on a mist-shrouded, drizzling November day, we set out for Ermerveen, a hamlet in the very Dutch province of Drenthe. This place was literally put on the world map by Gerard. Feel free to do the test, type the town name into Google and the first search result is “Gerard Koopman pigeons.”
We have landed in the Holland of postcards, vast polder landscapes, sleek rows of trees, endless canals and streams, picturesque hallmark farmhouses and, of course, the most famous windmills in the world. The clogs, tulips and buddy sharing were still missing to complete the list of clichés. This is the setting, the decorum, for the story Koopman!
Everything began, obviously, long ago in primeval times, but we skip quite a bit to the historic year 1915. The world was on fire, all over the globe young men were losing their lives because of the folly of old men. The iron plain in Flanders had been recreated into a scene from Dante’s inferno. New Amsterdam, however, was far away from the slaughterhouse with the poppies, and life here was quiet as ever and went its ordinary, leisurely course.
On May 31, 1915, a son, Cornelis “Johnny” Koopman, was born into the traditional farming family of Harmina and Jacob Koopman. In those days there was no television, but there was a minister, and so Cornelis grew up with six brothers and five sisters. Why Johnny? Because Dine Moes, the family’s German maid, thought the name Cornelis was too difficult. Sometimes explanations are very simple!
We press the flush button again for a moment and end up on January 31, 1938. The whole of the Netherlands is in an uproar. After all, at Soestdijk Palace, Her Majesty Juliana had given birth to a hefty sprout of a princess, Beatrix. For Cornelis, however, this day would prove historic for an entirely different reason. For that day his eye first fell on the beautiful Jansje Keen. She would become the love of his life, his rock, the yin to his yang, the woman who would bear his offspring.
Apparently they could not wait for the capitulation on May 10, ’45, because on March 27 of that year Jansje and Cornelis got married. During this marriage Jansje Cornelis would bestow four sons Jaap, Jan-Egbert, Willem-Harminus and the Benjamin, Gerard. Cornelis was a simple farmer, but Jansje came from a family that was in business, she breathed commerce, entrepreneurship flowed through her veins. Besides the small farm there was an egg business and in 1965 they started a new trading company for grains, fertilizer, seed potatoes and things like that, the local farmers’ union so to speak.
After their marriage, the brand new couple moved into a house on the east side. Cornelis had been passionate about pigeon racing ever since he was still wearing shorts. With a new house, a new loft had to be built immediately. A new loft must have pigeons and so Cornelis got on his bicycle and went to Coevorden to get pigeons from the Gossen brothers for 60 guilders (€30). Sixty guilders was an average monthly salary in those days. He joined “De Snelvlieger” in Nieuw-Amsterdam and soon became very involved in the club, although just like at home and at the company it was Jansje who pulled the cart. History is full of strong women and they are not all called Cleopatra, Margaret Thatcher or Rosa Parks.
Cornelis was a more than decent fancier. In the club and also regionally he was always among the best. Playing and breeding with pigeons went quite well for him. However, his greatest talent, as it would turn out later, was breeding pigeons. Jaap also got interested in pigeons and eventually started his own loft on the parental property. Gerard, played soccer, whether a potential Messi was lost to him due to a meniscus injury will forever remain shrouded in mists.
Gerard is quiet and humble, but make no mistake, he is a born winner. He wants to be able to excel at something, to be the best at something. Merckx also does not shout that he was the best, in interviews he is quiet and modest, on the bike, and however, he was a winning glutton, the one and only Cannibal. So with soccer gone, glutton Gerard had to look for something else to (try to) excel at.
One morning little Gerard got up, stepped up to father Cornelis and said, “I would love to play with the pigeons with you!” This is truly a historic moment in modern pigeon racing. This is little Gerard’s first step in an adventure that would lead to the very highest global stages in pigeon racing. “That’s one small step for Gerard, one giant leap for pigeon sport.”
That timid, somewhat shy little of Johnny Koopman would grow into one of the all-time great pigeon fanciers in history. Janssen, Van Loon, Klak, Van Dyck…. In this list the name Koopman will go into the history books.
Of course, we did not drive from the Kempen region to Ermerveen in gray, dirty weather for nothing. Hereby we keep this introductory history for what it is and let Gerard himself speak. Interviews and deadpan conversations with Gerard are always a pleasure. After all, Gerard Koopman is not a fancy talker, but he can talk very nicely.
Gerard, first of all thank you for the warm welcome, for the delicious sandwiches and thank Wan (Maniwan Hausai, Gerard’s wife since 2021) for the fresh Thai spring rolls, they were delicious.
Gerard: (laughs) Yes, she can. (Looks after her lovingly)
We are now going to enjoy our spring rolls, sit, and listen. The floor is yours now. Surely we can say without much exaggeration that you are one of the most famous pigeon fanciers in the world. How and where did Gerard Koopman’s story start?
Gerard: It all started here in Nieuw-Amsterdam. By the way, do you know where that name comes from? This used to be all peatland. At some point all the land here was bought up by businessmen from Amsterdam. Hence the locals started calling this area New Amsterdam. So now you know that too. (laughs) I’ll start again with the story.
So, in New Amsterdam, on my parents’ farm they later had the business, a wholesale and retail business in all kinds of agricultural products, and under my mother’s impulse it grew and became bigger and bigger. Father was a very good man, a good man, an even better father, but he was not ambitious. He even used to make deliveries by cargo bike, he was not averse to hard work, but he was not the entrepreneur. My mother came from a family of tradesmen. Her parents owned a garage/bus business. Mother was definitely the driving force behind the business. I undoubtedly got my mercantile spirit from her.
So Koopman has his Koopman spirit not from Koopman, but from the daughter of a Koopman?
Gerard: (laughs loudly) You could put it that way yes! We really did all kinds of things, there were chickens and we also did some contract work. I did two years of Technical school, I thought, tinkering things that suits me. When I was 18, however, my mother got sick and I stayed home to work in the business. I did that all my life, until I became a pigeon professional of course.
Later I obtained my miSiegelle-class diploma. However, that was not much. That was a piece of paper you needed to start your own business. I used to run the store and my brother took care of the wholesale business and at one point even had his own little factory of dog and cat food. Because my brother had the wholesale business, I could of course buy everything cheaply. That way we were naturally cheaper than the competition. Yes, those years we did good business.
There were quite a few pigeon fanciers here in the area in those years. At a certain moment (1967) we became distributor/importer of Mariman feed mixtures. Thanks to this distribution, we went to many places, for example, we often had a promotion stand at championship days. We met a lot of people and built up useful contacts, both in the Netherlands and in Belgium.
Through those contacts, among others, more and more pigeon products were aSiegeled. Baskets, dishes, by-products, you know. We once mixed pigeon feed ourselves, somewhere between five and ten years. Then we started working with the Beyers company.
All that time you were a pigeon fancier yourself?
Gerard: Yes indeed. Pigeons had fascinated me for a long time and since I had stopped playing soccer I had completely focused on that. I had the feeling that I could do that. That feeling is important to me. So I once played checkers, I was even at the local checkers club here.
I certainly wasn’t bad at that level. In checkers you have these fixed ways of playing, setups, that you use to trap your opponent to win easily. They work very well against lesser players, but against experienced players who are familiar with these setups, they don’t stand a chance.
You don’t learn anything from that and you will never become a better player. So I soon realized that I didn’t have enough talent to become really very good at checkers, and then I quit because then it feels pointless.
Unintentionally, I did learn a lesson from that which I later applied in the pigeon world. You must not go for quick success, but you must think in the long term. (laughs) That’s usually how it is with life lessons, in the moment itself you don’t realize that you are experiencing them, that realization and that wisdom come later.
And with pigeons you thought you could win?
Gerard: Yes! (laughs) When I wanted to start with pigeons my father gave me a small loft with 13 widowers selected by him. Every week I bet against my brother Jaap for a guilder and I always said to him: “Get the money ready, I will win today! That desire to win has always been there and also the love for pigeons, which I obviously got from father. He was not driven enough to become a champion, but he was crazy about pigeons. Neither of us could imagine life without pigeons I think.
And so Gerard the entrepreneur combined running a business with pigeon racing?
Gerard: Yes indeed, those pigeons have actually always been there. I was never completely alone in that either. First I played with my father and later also with my brother Jaap, and even later I always had help. That is also necessary, I like to play with many pigeons and one of my pillars is a lot of training, laying a good foundation. My pigeons have to have three miSiegelle distance races in their wings before they can start on a 500 km race. If necessary, we drive ourselves. Jaap or I often drove to Belgium, up to the French border, to release pigeons.
Ah that’s how you ended up in Belgium!
Gerard: (laughs) No, I’ve been coming to you for much longer. Through Mariman we had contacts in Belgium for a long time. Of course we also read De Duif, from that newspaper I got a lot of knowledge and information. I had already understood for a long time that pigeon play and the quality of the pigeons in Belgium were of a much higher level. In those days of course, the latter is no longer true. (laughs exuberantly)
No, no I owe a lot to Belgium. As I said before, my father was a very sweet man, but not ambitious enough. I have had a lot of help from my father during my life, but my knowledge of pigeons, that comes from other teachers.
My father was someone who always went for quality. If you had to buy a tractor or a new machine, he didn’t mind a guilder and always opted for quality. The same goes for pigeons. We bought pigeons from Janssen and Van Loon.
This is how I came into contact with all those Belgian pigeon legends, thanks in part to my father. I visited the brothers in Arendonk more than once. From Jules Ryckaert from St. Amandsberg I learned a lot about nutrition and the more scientific side of the sport.
However, my greatest teacher was Louis Van Loon. My greatest knowledge about pigeons, and certainly about pigeon breeding, I gained from him. I made lists of questions, and every time I visited Louis or Jules, I went down my list. It was admirable how such a man as Van Loon always made time for a small beginner from far away New Amsterdam.
This brings to mind something I saw pass recently on Facebook. An enthusiast posted a story. He had sent an email because he had questions about the Koopman all-in-one blend. Very pleasantly surprised was that man when he received a phone call a few days later on a Sunday morning from a certain Gerard Koopman with the answer to his questions. You are not too shy to speak to a “normal” fancier.
Gerard: Look, I obviously earn something from those mixes with my name on them. So just business-wise I think that’s my duty to that company. But actually I find it quite normal that I do something like that. You do something like that out of courtesy and out of love for your sport, don’t you? Van Loon and all the other greats once made time for me. So who am I not to make time for a small fan that has a question? It’s not like I have to make hundreds of those calls a week either.
So we were with Gebr. Janssen and Van Loon pigeons.
Gerard: Louis (Van Loon) was so much more than someone we got pigeons from. Of course we got pigeons there, and good ones. But above all he was my greatest teacher. I rode my bike from New Amsterdam to Poppel and back. I would do anything to hang on Louis’ every word.
Louis’ lessons clearly paid off, and he must have also seen that he didn’t just have a youngster in front of him, but a young man with a lot of talent and potential. It seems that you chose the pigeons you bought from the “mannekes”.
Gerard: That’s right yes, I chose the pigeons. Indeed, I apparently had a better eye for that than father. But we didn’t get that far immediately. It took a while before we could buy our first direct pigeons from Arendonk. We had been very good with pigeons from Anema (Eefde) who had Janssen pigeons. In that period, late 70’s, I also bought pigeons from Herman Aheln (Nieuw-Dordrecht) once. His “48” was a superior pigeon. It too had Janssen blood. Also the legendary “Kanon” of Wout Smeulders was in it. But of course I wanted direct Janssen-pigeons as soon as possible, so we went there. Of course I also wanted out of their best. In those days they cost 2500 guilders and that was still too much, I did not have that, I had to save for that.
Somewhere in ’76-’77, I had saved enough money and we bought good pigeons from the brothers and really from their good ones, from the “019” and the “Jonge Merckx” and so on. “Gouden Duifje” (B81-6116734) was one of those pigeons, a pigeon that would later become a matriarch in our loft. I also bought a youngster from the “Good Pigeon” then; however, I wanted to buy two. “Just wait,” said Louis,”You have one now, just wait.” And so I had to wait a full year for another one from the “Goed duifje.” Another amusing anecdote is the following. In 1976 I absolutely wanted something from the “Rocket Man.” I had hoped that eggs were cheaper than youngsters. Once I was with the brothers, two of them went to the loft. One held the egg up to the light and said, “yes, this is a youngster.” So the eggs were as expensive as the young. (laughs)
Also commercially, those Janssen pigeons were interesting. After all, not many people here in the area had them. Arendonk was still far from New Amsterdam in those days. So we could get rid of youngsters from those pigeons here. We sold those first Janssen-pigeons via Jan (Hermans).
How did you actually meet Jan?
Gerard: I don’t actually remember that, it was so long ago. It must have been through Stan Raeymakers. Through our Belgian contacts with Mariman we once met Stan and through him certainly Jan. My father and I have known Jan for so long that I never really thought about it.
I do remember that first auction. At one point I didn’t think they were going well enough. “The Zwollenaar” was up for bid and the bids were not high enough for my liking. I then started biSiegeling on my own pigeon. (laughs) Little did I know how that worked? Jan then made it clear to me that you shouldn’t do that. (laughs even more exuberantly) That auction was also a turning point for me. I realized that it is not about pedigrees, the quality of your loft is about performance. Just having Janssen pigeons was not enough. There had to be performance in return. Sporting the upper hand automatically ensures commercial success.
The pigeons also began to play an increasing role in your life.
Gerard: That came gradually. My performance got better and better and therefore I could also ask more and more for my pigeons. That is also a step you have to dare to take. You have to dare to value yourself and your pigeons. Dirk Van Dyck for example, a lovely man and much too good, didn’t dare to do that. “Yes but Gerard, I can’t do that, save the price, can I? People are going to think that’s too much.” (laughs) “A really good guy that Dirk (silent for a moment)! So I can do that, probably that’s the business side I got from my mother. But the pigeons started to yield better and better and then of course it becomes a more important aspect. Not that I ever played for the money, it’s a side effect of my pigeon playing. Sean Kelly once said, “if you cycle for the money you won’t succeed, if you cycle to win you will make a good living.” In business too, I am someone of good preparation and laying a solid foundation first. I never go for quick success; I always try to build something that is solid towards the future. I am for the long effort. To compare it again to racing, winning a sprint is nice, but that’s one short moment of glory. Winning a long solo in the mountains is still of a different order for me. So I phased out the work on the business and gradually built up the pigeon career. First someone joined the business so I could free up more time for my pigeons. At the end of the 90’s the business was finally sold so I could focus completely on the pigeons. That helped, because in 1994 we became world champions. (laughs) In ’96-’97 we then built here (in Ermerveen) and then moved. Of course, the pigeon lofts were immediately aSiegeled. (laughs)
I once learned from Jan that you used to be rather shy and even somewhat introverted. You’re not a roper or table jumper now, but you’ve changed dramatically in that. You seem much more self-confident to me now, as a businessman I think you have to be self-confident too. You’re a world authority in your field and you’re aware of that. When do you think that turnaround came?
Gerard: In itself, it’s a gradual process, but of course there are milestones, turning points in your life. Getting married was an important moment for me. In retrospect, that may not have been the perfect marriage, which is why it also went wrong, but at that moment it is something that gives you self-confidence. You accomplished something. Another milestone was my first trip to Japan. That too was with Jan, it was really Jan who introduced me to Asia. I had never flown, for us traveling meant going on a trip or staying with family or in the most extreme case going on vacation to Austria. And suSiegelenly you set foot on Japanese soil. There is hardly a greater contrast than between New Amsterdam and Tokyo. He went from a farmer’s hole in the frog country to one of the largest metropolises in the world. At that moment I really did feel like a little Dutch boy in the big bad world. I saw so many things there that I had never seen before. I remember a little child nibbling on a crab leg. Very normal there, but I didn’t know what I was seeing. That seemed almost from another planet all together. No, I was totally impressed. Homesickness certainly played a role and sometimes it all became too much. I was closer to crying than laughing. Fortunately Jan was there, and I am so grateful to him. In retrospect, however, you learn a lot from such a moment. At such a moment you can crawl pathetically into a corner and cry or shrug your shoulders and carry on. Maybe I didn’t fully realize it at that moment, but apparently I did the latter.
And in the meantime, you’ve become a real globetrotter.
Gerard: (laughs) I do now, but absolutely not then. You grow as a person, even in that. Now I can indeed enjoy traveling and discovering new things. Those first trips with The Dove to Japan, China and Taiwan and so on were quite exciting. Sometimes we made it exciting ourselves. I remember a trip to Japan. There were about twenty of us there, a group led by Jan and Rik (Hermans). Together with part of the group, I had gone for a bite to eat before customs control. It was pleasant and we lost track of time, I think. SuSiegelenly we heard a familiar voice through the airport public aSiegelress system calling out our names, in Dutch, asking us to make our way to the gate as quickly as possible. That was Rik Hermans behind the microphone. (laughs heartily) The pilot actually wanted to leave already, but fortunately Jan was very good at grounding planes. It took some doing, getting priority at the controls and all, but at last we made it to the gate. The plane finally took off with everyone on board and with only an hour’s delay. (laughs)
So no doubt you have a mass of travel stories?
Gerard: Absolutely, but I said it before, I’m not good at regurgitating stories. Tricky, huh for an interview? (laughs) Wait, I know another one. We flew to New York, you know, that other New Amsterdam (laughs). As a result of terrible weather we ended up having to land in Chicago, which was quite a hassle back then. In America I also had to speak at a convention in Los Angeles. I could not do that at all, I had never done anything like that before. My English was far from perfect. I was very nervous. For something like that, however, there was always rescue angel Jan. He had a whole text written out for me to just read and that’s how it all worked out. This story reminds me of another funny anecdote about Jan and Piet Kuypers in Japan. Piet also had to give a lecture there, but they couldn’t speak English. Fortunately, they had prepared well. The plan was that Piet would read his lecture in Dutch and Jan would then bring the English translation to the audience. Pete completely failed to stick to his text there. All that he said had nothing to do with pigeons. He told a whole story about masonry and things like that. Jan, however, with difficulty but with a straight face, brought the correct English version and nobody in the hall understood what was going on. (laughs) Except of course Ken (Kenichi Yoshihara), who understands English and Dutch. That one also had all the trouble in the world there to keep him serious. (yawns)
Because of your pigeons, you are literally world famous. In China, you even have friends in the highest echelons.
Gerard: Haha, yes that’s a nice story too actually. Years back I got an email from Pamela, a Chinese business associate from Beijing. She wanted to buy pigeons for a friend. At that time I didn’t have anything I could offer right away, but later I was sure I could. We agreed to discuss this further during my next visit to China a few months later. No sooner said than done. So a few months later, I went to China. One day I have a lunch appointment there with Pamela. I meet her at a restaurant and she has a friend with her, Deng Lin. A lady of about fifty. Very posh, but also very friendly and sweet. We discuss our business and especially have a very pleasant lunch. I say goodbye to the ladies and I leave. Just after leaving, my driver asks if I know who these ladies were. “Of course,” I said,”those are Pamela and Deng Lin.” (laughs) “Right,” he said, “and Deng Lin is the eldest daughter of Deng Xiaoping.” (yawns)
As in Deng Xiaoping, Mao’s successor and the second president of the People’s Republic of China?
Gerard: (laughs) The same one, yes. But, as I said, a very kind lady. A very ordinary woman who behaved very normally. So Lin’s father was the second man after Mao, and Pamela’s father was once a general under Mao at the time of the Chinese Revolution. So their fathers knew each other and so the daughters were friends.
And they just sat there? Without an army of bodyguards?
Gerard: I think so. Or I just didn’t notice them of course. Maybe all the other people in that restaurant were security, I didn’t know. In those days in China, you had to be scared of nothing. (laughs)
Gerard Koopman, friend to the greats.
Gerard: Well especially with their daughters. (laughs) Really very nice ladies. Later I stayed in one of her apartments, well, that must have belonged to Father State probably. She asked me to name a good pigeon after her. It had to be a cock, because they have more offspring. That’s Chinese humor. (laughs) At that time I had no pigeon that qualified, but a little later I named a winning pigeon “Deng Lin’s Favorite”. She happy again, too. (laughs)
All nice stories, let’s look at the other side of the coin. What countries did you not like?
Gerard: One country that really affected me was Bangladesh. I never want to go there again. The poverty there is so abject, it really makes you uncomfortable. You know that, you know the images from TV, but when you are confronted with it in person it hits you hard. How grateful I am that I was born in the Netherlands. What are we complaining because a pigeon flight is disappointing, that’s nothing. I feel more than blessed with my life and I am very grateful for that.
Certainly and surely you have had a very successful life so far, however, no one’s path is always on roses. Let’s go straight to the extreme, what the absolute low point for you in your life?
Gerard: Like many highs, life naturally also consists of several lows. The death of loved ones, illness, things like that. In itself that’s all normal, that’s part of life, disappointments, setbacks; you have to learn to deal with that, which forms you. However, that is all easily said, when you are at a low point, it is of little use, you have to go through it first. For me that low point was the period after my divorce. I really did suffer seriously from that. I got divorced in 2001 and I can say that I didn’t really get over that until 2003.
How important is your wife in your life?
Gerard: I think very important. Your partner is so much hey, your buSiegely, your sounding board. You have to keep your eyes wide open before marriage and closed during marriage. I’m afraid I did it the other way around during my first marriage. (laughs)
No, without any reproach, let it be clear that my first marriage was not a complete success. Although there were certainly good times, the combination just didn’t sit well. My ex still lives around here, and we’re just friendly with each other now. It was all more sensitive the first few years, but time heals and now, thankfully, we act very normal to each other. However, it is clear that we were not right for each other. After all, there is no shame in that.
Again, of course, setbacks are part of life and you learn from mistakes. At least that’s the idea. I do think I learned from my mistakes, too bad of course that you have to make them first. Getting older and wiser is mainly an accumulation of mistakes. In that way, my first marriage was an important milestone and a learning moment. (laughs)
My current wife Wan suits me very well, though. She supports me in what I do, in my decisions. We discuss important matters; she thinks about the business, she receives clients and so on. It all goes very naturally and smoothly. Oh yes, and she makes delicious spring rolls.
Delicious spring rolls! They are all eaten!
Gerard, you mentioned that you ended up in Asia with and thanks to Jan (Hermans). However, you soon went your own way.
Gerard: Going with the group from The Dove to China, Japan and Taiwan and so on was great, and as I mentioned, it was also a tremendous culture shock that I struggled with for quite a while. However, that was beyond my mother’s mercantile spirit. (laughs) After the initial shock, I started thinking and soon realized that if I wanted to build a reputation over there, I had to go there alone, without Jan and all the other Dutch and Belgians. That’s how you really build connections, that’s how you acquire customers.
So I looked for a Chinese interpreter in the Netherlands and went to the college in Emmen where there were some Chinese students. Eventually I ended up with Chun Luk who lived a little further away in Stadskanaal. With him I went on an adventure, first to Taiwan. I had a list of names and aSiegelresses, and we looked for the rest in the F116 catalog. After Chun stopped here I started looking for a new interpreter, and it became Louis.
You may have been a little shy and overwhelmed, but you did it all. You had the guts to take risks, to travel the world, to dare to invest.
Gerard: Well as I said, mother’s mercantile spirit will have won out over father’s down-to-earth simplicity. I had to learn some of these things on the job, but daring to invest has always been there. I said before, even my father, the down-to-earth Dutchman, had that quality.
You also dared to spend money on pigeons.
Gerard: Of course, good pigeons don’t automatically come flying to your loft hehe! (laughs) To want to win you have to dare to invest. In the first place of course your own time and energy, but also financially. That does not mean that you have to jump further than your stick is long.
I have always dared to invest money in pigeons, hoarding money is useless. Of course I bought according to my budget. First I bought youngsters from the good ones, later I tried to buy the performance pigeons myself and only pigeons from the best breeding couples. I always followed the theory of Van Loon, performance alone is not enough, they must also come from a good family, and then they are not “lucky” winners. Usually winners come from good families.
Of course you have to make choices, you can’t buy everything. That too is according to Van Loon’s theories, don’t keep buying blindly. Recently I was asked why, for example, I hardly have any pigeons from Vandenabeele. Simple, choices. I have nothing against Gaby, super pigeons too, but you have to choose somewhere.
Give me an example of a pigeon you paid good money for.
Gerard: Well, I have paid well for several pigeons (laughs) I remember an auction in 2003 of De Rauw-Sablon. They played everything in one pile and Jan (Hermans) advised me to buy some pigeons. Those were the dark years after my divorce. When things get difficult in my private life, my sporting life suffers too. I needed a new boost, a kick under my ass as it were.
At that auction, I wasn’t going to let anyone outbid me. I had set my goals and I was going for it. I bought “The Dreamer”, “Bjarne”, Mister Expensive (brother “The Dreamer”) and a sister of “The Dreamer” there. For “The Dreamer” I paid 22,000 euros at the time, a lot of dough. Afterwards in the car, back on the way home, I felt reborn. What played through my mind was “Yes, Gerard is back!”
Another great one: In ’96, I met Dirk Van Dyck at the Golden Pigeon party. I approached him with the question to buy youngsters from the “Kannibaal”. At that time it was not possible, everything was sold for the next 2 years, but there was a youngster from the “Kannibaal” in the Golden Pigeon auction of ’97. (Dirk became Superstar of the year halo that season) I could not be there myself, so I had asked Dirk Leekens to bid for me; he could go up to 5000 guilders. In the end I was able to buy them for 4800, a lot of money in those days, in fact still today…
That pigeon was “Golden Lady”, a late youngster from ’96. I paired her with “Gentil” and in ’98 out of that combination came “Kleine Dirk”. I shouldn’t say more for sure. Maybe the best 4800 guilders I ever spent.
You know, I won a lot in pigeon racing. Beautiful flights, ace pigeons, Olympiad pigeons, world championships and so on. However, I think my sporting highlight is breeding “Little Dirk.” When you haven’t been in the sport that long you may not realize it yet, but those, like me, who have been in pigeon racing for a lifetime realize how exceptional it is to have such a pigeon. That’s really … that is, the very highest. (gets emotional for a moment)
As a result, you are now a legend in the one-day long distance. Do you have any sporting dreams?
Gerard: I won’t lose sleep if I never succeed, but everybody who baskets wants to win Barcelona one day. That is also a heritage of Jan that dream to win Barcelona one day. At a certain moment, the regulations of the world championships of Versele-Laga were changed. I also needed heavy long-distance pigeons. One aSiegelress of course, Jan Hermans. From Jan I received ten youngsters. I put them against each other and one of those children became “Miss Waalre” (1st Nat. Ace long distance pigeon 2004 TBOTB, 1st NPO Ruffec and 1st Nat. S4 St. Vincent at 14 days). By the way, that was not only a super flyer but also a great breeder. Later, Mr. Kijima bought her. He had grabbed next to “Super Ben” and was a bit tricky; Jan needed something to spawn him. When Jan Hermans asked me for a favor you couldn’t say no. I owed so much to that man, and so “Miss Waalre” moved to Japan. [n.v.d.r. A few days later Robert Ben was nevertheless convinced and “Super Ben” also moved to the land of the rising sun]. That, too, is business. Never forget who did what for you; one pleasure is worth another. Otherwise, mutual love won’t last either.
Can Gerard Koopman still learn a lot about pigeons?
Gerard: Of course! Everyone can learn. Around here there is poultry fair every year, if I can I go there and feast my eyes. In the past I’ve certainly had some good ideas there. You should never think you are there, because then you are guaranteed to start going backwards. Also never give up, always persevere. It is a cliché that champions don’t look for excuses but causes, but like all clichés, there is a lot of truth in this one. Complaining and sawing will get you nowhere. If you can’t stand the fact that sometimes the wind will be at your disadvantage, then you need to find another hobby. After all, we are only human, nature takes its course and we have nothing to say to that. Furthermore, it is mainly a matter of trying; if you don’t try you know nothing. I cannot stand those people who have an opinion about something they have never tried. My motto is, if you haven’t tried it, keep quiet because then you don’t know what you’re talking about. I will also never just do something blindly; I do want to know why. For everything you do there must be an explanation, otherwise you are just doing wet-finger work. Regarding the latter, I learned a lot from Günter Prange. Wonderful guy, a real man of nature, who thinks like a pigeon, very unique.
Just a question in between. You play under the name C. & G. Koopman. You said yourself that your father didn’t make that much of a contribution athletically, yet you continue to play along under his name. Never considered just playing as Gerard Koopman?
Gerard: Why should I? Surely that would be a nice tribute to my father. Okay, he may not have been the greatest pigeon fancier or not a very ambitious man. But he was a very good man and a good father, and I did learn a lot from him. For years we played as C. Koopman and son, at one point I thought I had earned the right to aSiegel the G. as well. (laughs) At this point Kjeld (Spithoven), John (Koopman) and Mart (Rotmensen) also join the company. Their day’s work is done, and of course a working day at Koopman’s can’t end without a cup of comfort, a chat and a review of the day. In this case, they get to join in and have their say about their employer.
Gentlemen, thank you also for joining us. Tell us how you guys ended up at Gerard’s? After all, this is not an everyday workplace.
Kjeld: I ended up here through Jaap and Annie (brother and sister-in-law Gerard). I worked at their place of business; they knew Gerard was looking for someone. I went for an interview, it clicked immediately and the rest is history as they say.
John: Gerard is my uncle, so I have known him all my life. When André Leideman started flying for himself in 2021 a place became available in Ermerveen. Gerard told this to my mother, that’s how that news came to me. I was out of work at the time and I thought it would be nice to work for Gerard.
Mart: I once did vacation work at Gerard’s as a 13-year-old. My father wouldn’t let me just sit at home all summer vacation (laughs). I ended up doing that for three summer vacations. In 2021, I was pursuing an education but it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. Coincidentally, I then got an app from Kjeld asking if I would be interested in joining them again. As John pointed out, Bert and André Leideman had quit and there were hands short here. So I went for an interview, did a month’s probationary period and didn’t leave after that.
What did you know about pigeon racing before you joined Gerard?
John: Not very much. When I was little I did go with my parents often to watch pigeons at my grandparents’ house. So let’s say I knew a little more about it than the average Dutchman, but much less than the average pigeon fancier.
Mart: I had, before I first got here, absolutely nothing with pigeons. So I still had to learn everything.
Kjeld: Same for me. I could handle animals, but I didn’t know anything about pigeons specifically. I learned everything here by watching a lot and asking questions. Paying very close attention and you can learn a lot.
Gerard, just a question for you in between. These gentlemen here at the table actually knew nothing about pigeons when they came to work for you. Why didn’t you look for employees with experience in pigeons? Didn’t you find any?
Gerard: No, I had to take what I could get. (laughs) Just kiSiegeling, of course. It was a conscious choice. Take Kjeld for example. Through Jaap and Annie I knew he was a good worker, someone who saw work, who takes initiative, who can work independently and who has a feeling for animals. But the most important thing for me was that Jaap could guarantee me that he was reliable. After all, you bring a stranger into your loft, into your company, into your yard, in fact literally into your home, and then you have to be able to trust someone like that blindly. Well, I trusted Kjeld blindly all those years and he never betrayed that trust, quite the contrary.
Those were the years after the divorce. I wanted to unburden myself in terms of workload. I preferred to have a blank canvas, someone without knowledge. Such a person you can mold and shape yourself. You shouldn’t teach them “wrong” things either. Someone with experience always has their own vision. Over the years, of course, Kjeld has had his own vision, but I was able to mold that vision with him. (laughs)
Gerard is known in the pigeon world as a quiet, affable man. Is he the same as a boss? What is Gerard like when he is angry?
Mart: I’ve never seen Gerard angry, as crazy as that may sound but it really is.
John: He’s really just like that, as an uncle, as a boss and as a human being. I’ve never really seen him angry in all these years.
Come on Kjeld, in all these years?
Kjeld: Sorry, I have to join the boys. In all these years I’ve never seen Gerard really angry either. Well for example disappointed, Gerard can be disappointed in people. He also doesn’t like disturbed harmony and if something happens that he doesn’t like then he withdraws to let it blow over.
No one is perfect; I have already heard a laundry list of good qualities about Gerard. However, please name his less nice sides, his drawbacks, his little edges. Don’t hold back! Next year you’ll be out on the street anyway.
John: (laughs exuberantly) I think Gerard’s worst characteristic is that his good qualities often come at the expense of himself. He could think of himself a little more often. So what are good and bad traits? For whom are traits good and for whom are traits bad?
Mart: If I have to mention something, Gerard is sometimes a bit sloppy in communication and can forget things. (laughs)
You work for someone who is literally world famous in the pigeon world. When did you guys first notice this?
Mart: I first found this out when I went with him to the pigeon fair in Houten. There was not a moment that I could talk to him in peace, let alone just walk around. Gerard was constantly asked for a picture or there were people who wanted to have a chat with him. It is a very special feeling to work for someone like that, something that people who are not in our world will never understand.
John: Indeed, I noticed that for the first time during events like the Golden Ten. The whole pigeon top is walking around there and everyone wants to have a chat with Gerard. Sometimes it’s quite absurd how far that all goes. Did you know there is a fan with a tattoo of “Little Dirk” on his arm?
Like Mart said, you have to be in the pigeon business to realize how big Gerard is in that environment. Very handsome what he has put up. I’m pretty proud to have been able to contribute my little bit to that.
Kjeld: In the beginning I had no idea either; he was just Gerard, the brother (in law) of Jaap and Annie. Later I found out that people all over the world know him, which can be quite bizarre. To me, however, he was always just Gerard. Of course I find it very clever what he has achieved in pigeon racing, but in the end we are all just people. That is undoubtedly the sobriety from the north what you hear now. (laughs)
How did it affect you guys when Gerard announced his decision to quit? Did you guys see it coming?
Kjeld: I definitely saw it coming and also helped him make a choice, I think. The way he feels and acts now, he can’t practice pigeon racing the way he wants to. Of course it is a pity that the adventure stops here and for me it is very double because I have always put my heart and soul in it.
John: You could indeed feel it coming, it was in the air. Especially the timing, I think, took most people by surprise. I certainly didn’t expect it at this point.
Mart: Same with me felt it coming yes, but only in a few years then. After I learned about it, I certainly had a moment’s notice.
John: I think for all of us, we have always enjoyed working here, so of course we will miss it here.
Mart: The working atmosphere here is great, really a kind of family. I’m definitely going to miss it here. I’ll never find a job like this again, I’m sure. I’m going to enjoy the year we have left.
Any plans for life after Gerard?
John: A direction already, concrete plans not yet.
Kjeld: (laughs) Well, it took a while but I’ve tied the knot. I’m going to find a job that suits me and that I can combine with pigeon racing. Yesterday I bought a loft; I’ve decided to take my own chance athletically.
Mart: As soon as we’re done here I’m going to make a world trip and after that I’ll see.
Looking back, what is the most important thing you learned in your time here in Ermerveen?
Mart: Besides of course everything I learned from pigeon racing, I also learned a lot about business matters and trade. They even taught me about investing here.
Kjeld: With Gerard I learned how to deal with people of all levels. I myself come from a small village and am more of the motto “act normal and you will be crazy enough”. Over the years I have also gained a lot of experience with foreign languages and cultures. Of myself I am quite direct and clear. I have also learned to dose this by working at Gerard’s. (laughs)
John: Something very important that I learned here at Gerard’s is knowing what is important and what is not important.
What is your fondest memory of your time with Gerard?
Mart: The sociability and the appreciation he has given me over the years.
John: Yes, for me also something like that. I don’t have a specific memory or anecdote that I look back on fondly, it’s more about the general feeling. The warmth that is here, the good atmosphere, the feeling of being part of a close-knit team. Those are the great memories; I’m going to miss that.
Kjeld: Playing sports and being able to interact with animals were highlights for me all those years. On a purely sporting level, the years of “Manu” and “Amadi” were the best. On a personal level, I love traveling and good food, so in that respect I was right with Gerard. All those beautiful trips, going to eat at “Het Hof van Cleve” or “Comme Chez Soi”, all things I owe to my years here with Gerard.
Tell us something funny about Gerard that we didn’t already know.
John: (starts laughing already) You should know that Gerard believes strongly in alternative medicine. For example, he once crawled into a left-field sauna. That thing was stoked hot with special pine wood that came from a village somewhere in Austria. This was said to be good for the lungs.
Kjeld: This is not really an anecdote, but I find it quite funny: sometimes Gerard can be a bit awkward socially, and then he thinks he’s being fun, but then finds out that this is actually not the case. (laughs) Then I can laugh immensely at his awkwardness.
Mart: (laughs) Sorry, I spontaneously have to think of a teSiegely bear. (everyone yawns)
Uh, we’re missing some context, teSiegely bear?
Gerard: Yes there is. In Thailand I was having a drink on a terrace. Just down the road sat a man with, I thought, a baby. He was very active with the baby and was obviously very sweet to it as well. SuSiegelenly I noticed that it was not a baby but a teSiegely bear. Without wanting to stare, I kept watching him and I did get very curious. Then I went to the toilet, passed him and had a good look. Apparently that man was (I can’t describe it any other way) in love with that teSiegely bear. (laughs)
Was that a tourist or a Thai?
Gerard: (laughs) I don’t know. I didn’t go and talk to that man hey. What should I have said? Does the little one eat his meat well? (yawns) It was an Asian, let’s leave it at that.
John: But you should know, he told us that story, which of course is very funny in itself. A little later, he suSiegelenly comes walking in here with a teSiegely bear on his arm saying, pretty sweet little beast like that! (Your reporter did not fall off his chair laughing.)
Gerard, we are nearing the end of this entertaining conversation. It has come up several times, but we haven’t really gone into it in depth. Of course, everyone in pigeon country wants to know why you are hanging up your clack.
Gerard: A combination of factors. First of all, there is the physical aspect. Lung covid has sucked all the energy out of my body lately. My body craves rest. But it’s also mentally depleted. All those years at the top, it eats away at a person. In the long run, you are also lived, you have success but you are no longer the boss of your own agenda. Winning and success became normal. Kjeld and I barely had time to stop and enjoy our achievements. Going on and on and performing again and again. We don’t enjoy ourselves enough, we don’t dwell on the pleasures, and it becomes routine. I also saw that Kjeld was suffering; it was getting tough for him too lately. It has been very nice, but it is good, time to turn the page. It was a great adventure in the end.
When did you tie the knot for yourself that it was good?
Gerard: That must have been in August 2023.
Who was the first person you told it to, and how did that person react?
Gerard: The first one will certainly have been Wan, but of course that goes without saying. The first person outside the family was Kjeld. I was a bit apprehensive about that, but fortunately Kjeld reacted very positively, he was obviously relieved as well.
Kjeld: I also saw that he was not doing well. That put a lot of pressure on me. It was just a relief, for both of us, I think. It felt like a heavy burden falling off my shoulders.
Any plans for life after “the pigeons”?
Gerard: Not very specific, definitely going on vacation a lot. (laughs) As I mentioned in my farewell letter, I want to keep some pigeons to participate in one-loft races. Of course, that’s not the same athletically. OLRs are a casino game, but one where you can increase your oSiegels with quality. Most important for me is to still keep some feeling with the pigeon world. Stopping completely cold turkey would probably give too many side effects. (laughs) I also see myself doing something for the community in my spare time, volunteering somewhere, helping people. I see myself helping a granny with groceries or something like that.
Gerard, to finish, reveal something about Gerard Koopman that not many people know yet!
Kjeld: (shouts) That he’s an art lover!
Gerard: Well, don’t exaggerate, soon people will think I know something about it (laughs) It’s true that I love beautiful things and that can indeed be art. We used to have a drawing teacher at school and that man could convey his love of art with such passion that it was contagious. Through him, for example, I got to know Salvador Dali, fantastic artist. I have a painting of that hanging in my bathroom.
What?
Gerard: Quietly, quietly! (yawns) It’s not a real one, of course. In Thailand you can have paintings like this painted. You can easily transport them rolled up and have them stretched and framed here. Such a painted replica has just a little more to it than a poster I think. Unfortunately I cannot afford a real one. (laughs) By the way, I do have a real Ronnie Wood (guitarist of The Rolling Stones). During one of their last tours you could buy that night’s set list online after every concert. It was then first thoroughly covered and decorated by Wood, who in aSiegelition to being a guitarist is also an artist. John, pass that tube please? (From a cardboard tube, Gerard takes out the rolled-up playlist which he proudly shows us.) Nice, isn’t it?
Absolutely, am extremely jealous of it! Gerard, last but not least, do you have any parting words for the pigeon world?
Gerard: Well, you’re asking quite a bit. I can’t just shake some historical parting words out of my sleeve. (laughs heartily) I think my most important words have to be thank you. This message is for my customers, for my pigeon friends, my wonderful staff over the years, my esteemed colleagues, and the whole pigeon world really. I am incredibly grateful to all of you. Pigeon racing has brought me so much in my life. I would like to do something back for the sport after my “retirement”, when my physical condition will hopefully improve. Guide some youngsters or something like that. Help them with advice and maybe even a pigeon. That’s something for the future! So hopefully soon there won’t be twenty young people at the door! (laughs)
Ah well, then you’re shopping with a granny anyway!
Gerard: (yawns) Yes that’s true too, or I’m traveling. (laughs) Say, the interview is over now anyway, feel like going to see the Dali with me?
Of course!
Kjeld: Well there go the art freaks; we won’t see those two again for a while. (laughs)
And so ended an interview with a very special man. An amiable man, an intelligent man, one of the most sensitive people in pigeon country but especially one of the greatest champions the sport has ever known. One who will never walk off his shoes and who will never feel a hair better than anyone else? However, his sporting legacy is huge and his impact on modern pigeon racing barely measurable. The list of references of the Koopman loft is endless. Without Gerard, our Golden Pigeon, Sabrina Brugmans, would have had to do without super pigeon “Corry”. My great boss and equally great friend Rik Hermans his colony would never have been the same without “Nike”. What would German pigeon racing have looked like without Günter Pranges “Ringlose”? The “Harry” of Jan Hooymans is even after his death still one of the most famous breeders in the world, however, without Gerard there would never have been a Harry. Had Gerard not been there, father and son Verkerk would have had to do without “Olympic Solange”. Even the most expensive pigeon in the world “James’s Legend” (owned by James Huang) would never have hatched without a grandparent from the loft in Ermerveen.
Merckx, Ali, Cruijff, Jordan, or to put it in pigeon terms Janssen, Van Loon, Klak, Van Dyck, in that order of magnitude you have to see Gerard Koopman. And yet remain so modest, so simple and so friendly, it is given to few. As great as he is in his sport, Gerard is even greater as a human being.
Gerard, all the best to you. We wish you all the luck in your further life, good luck with the beginning of a new era. Personally, I can’t help but bow respectfully and take a very deep knee, but I know what you’ll say, stand tall though, I’m just little Gerard from New Amsterdam too.
Note:
Thanks to Mike Verbruggen for the cooperation to publish this article.
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