Louis Verheyen general champion 2024!

Schoonderbuken, a sub-municipality of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, is known as a pilgrimage site where thousands of pilgrims visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel every year. This region is also home to several well-known pigeon fanciers, such as the late Maurice Van De Velde, Gommaire Verbruggen, and Louis Verheyen. Pigeon enthusiasts from all over Belgium come to Scherpenheuvel to light a candle in the hope of a strong season with their pigeons and for their families to stay healthy.

In the past season of 2024, Louis Verheyen once again crowned himself as the overall champion at the pigeon club Verenigde Vrienden Scherpenheuvel with seven mentions. This put him ahead of Georges De Keyser (five mentions) and Gommaire Verbruggen (four mentions). In recent seasons, he has been a regular in the overall championship, only occasionally having to relinquish the title to his colleagues. Competing against enthusiasts like Georges De Keyser, Geert Beken, and Gommaire Verbruggen, Louis consistently delivers top performances in Scherpenheuvel.

But Louis is not only a champion in Scherpenheuvel. He also regularly ranks in the championships of Hafo Vlaams-Brabant, Samenspel Hageland, and the provincial championships. On the national stage, Louis achieved third place in the KBDB national championship for young pigeons in the heavy 1/2 fond category in 1998. In 2010, he had the best young pigeon in Belgium in the heavy 1/2 fond category. With two national victories to his name, it is clear that Louis has top-class pigeons. He also consistently ranks in the Samenspel Hageland championships and even won championships in 2024 in the speed category. Louis has pigeons that perform well from Momignies to the heavy 1/2 fond races.

The 2024 season was another strong season for Louis. In addition to the title of Overall Champion and his seven mentions in the championships, Louis secured third place in the PigeonLeague 2024 For Youngsters competition. Here, he only had to let Leo Berghmans (second place) and Geert Beken (first place) go ahead in this competition for young pigeons. In the SUPERSTAR old pigeons category, Louis took the victory, the ultimate proof that he achieves strong results with both old and young pigeons, from speed to heavy 1/2 fond.

Louis Verheyen achieves strong performances primarily with his hens. Although some enthusiasts prefer to race with cocks, Louis tells us that hens can fly more kilometers and thus participate in more races. It does take some time to ensure that the hens do not pair with each other, and for that, you need to have the right breed in the lofts. The Van Hove-Uytterhoeven breed is ideal for racing with hens.

Both with young and old hens, Louis achieves the best results, although this does not mean that the cocks cannot achieve top performances. Racing with hens is something Louis has years of experience with and with which he also achieves top results

Louis has been involved in pigeon racing since childhood, as his father also raced pigeons. Later, Louis raced pigeons independently at his current residence. Initially, this was not at a high level, but that changed when he met the Putse tandem Van Hove-Uytterhoeven through his friend Gust Janssens. Thanks to Gust and Mit, Louis began to excel in pigeon racing and learned a lot from this sympathetic tandem from Putte. Gust evaluated the pigeons, and only those with the highest scores were allowed to stay in the lofts. Since then, Louis has maintained a strict selection of pigeons. Louis could listen to Mit for hours. How she talked about the pigeons and how she motivated them to perform well was something Louis learned a lot from and applied in his pigeon racing career.

The pigeon stock at Louis Verheyen's loft still consists of pigeons from Van Hove-Uytterhoeven, supplemented with pigeons from strong-performing enthusiasts. This continues to yield good results at Louis Verheyen's lofts in Scherpenheuvel. Louis sometimes says that things don't go as smoothly anymore due to health reasons, but pigeon racing will always remain his passion. He has been passionate about pigeons since childhood. And just because things go less well one day than the other, Louis doesn't give up easily. He will always try to give his best and that of his pigeons. He hopes to achieve several beautiful performances during the 2025 season. But the most important thing is to stay healthy, says Louis. That is the primary goal, and then we'll see what pigeon racing brings. It remains a beautiful hobby, according to Louis.**

 

Naam schrijver: Witte, Geschelpte