Article by Randy Engelbrecht PRO – Federated Board of Homing Unions
Article Published 12 December 2009



Racing into the future!!!!


Winners! Winners! Everywhere!

It sure was a night for winners at the 2009 FBHU presentation on Saturday, 28th November.

A good attendance of well over two hundred people gathered to honour the winners of all the Board races, as well as the crowning of the FBHU champion and the big winner of the night, the prized car competition winner.

The master of ceremonies for the night, Randy Engelbrecht, welcomed everybody warmly and enthusiastically with particular reference to Mr Barry Muller, the McCarthy dealer who would present the car. The chairman, Mr Lourens le Roux paid a special tribute to Dr Wim Peters and his team of Lou de Jager and Dexter Fischer for their contribution with regards to the “Schools Pigeon Project” by erecting lofts at schools, not just to create an interest amongst learners in order to overcome the legacy of drugs and substance abuse, but also to ignite a keen interest in the sport for the future.

Special guest for the night was Mrs Mabel Botha, wife of the late Louis Botha, (who raced as Stroom-op Hokke) whose loft she donated to the Macassar Primary School in aid of the project. Dr Wim Peters elaborated that quite a number of lofts were still to be erected after numerous requests from schools throughout the province.

The chairman thanked all members who made the effort to be present and in particular the spouses who are so often neglected throughout the racing season. He had special praise for the FBHU executive who worked tirelessly during the season to make things more appealing to members and also had a specific word of thanks to the convoyer who looked so well after our birds on the truck.

Then it was on the business of presenting the trophies which was handled expertly by Mr Yazied Moerat as per usual. There were trophies for each section winner as well as the three top positions in each race. Yazied made sure that the crowd knew the value of each achievement and paid gracious tribute to every member who received their well deserved award.

One of the most outstanding features of the evening was the crowning of the Federated Board of Homing Unions champion for 2009. This honour went to a partnership of cousins, Marius Havenga and Jannie Jacobs from the Paarl Distrct Homing Union who race as M & J Hokke. Racing two schemes, they had a phenomenal season, with both schemes finishing in the top ten of the Board. Loft B ended with a championship winning total of 841 points, beating the second fancier J. Groenewald, by 145 points. Loft A ended in tenth position and also had the distinction of having produced the best bird in the Board. This hen, ZAFB 08 04481 scored a record five times in Board races and ended with 426 points, more than half the total points they scored throughout the season. Not often that team B beats team A in any competition.

Rumour has it that Marius had been offered astronomical figures to part with this bird, but so far he has resisted the temptation of the luring Rand, or even dollars.

The highlight of the presentation was undoubtedly the handing over of the car to Ashley September of the Blackheath District Homing Union. A very modest young man, he was overwhelmed by all the attention, but had the grace to first and foremost thank God for his fantastic achievement. He made particular reference to the fact that the pigeons were well cared for this year as he received his brand new Chery QQ3 to the value of R65 000.00 from Mr Barry Muller, the McCarthy new sales executive.

As the evening drew to a close, fanciers slowly trickled homeward, no doubt formulating plans to be in the limelight themselves next year. But. the night will be remembered by all those who walked away with a trophy or two tucked under the arm and a warm sense of gratitude for what they had been able to achieve for the year 2009.

May our pigeons bring us much pleasure and joy in 2010 and may the Federated Board of homing Unions grow and go from strength to strength to lead the rest as we race into the future!

Ashley September, posing proudly with his Chery QQ3 he won in the FBHU 2009 Car Competition.


The FBHU executives – from left to right: L. le Roux (Chairman); Y. Moerat Snr (Former chairman and life long member); J. Adams (President); N. Jacobs (Trustee); A. Schmidt (Transport Convener); Y. Moerat Jnr (Vice Chaiman and Race sec); Oubaas Bogenhagen (Trustee); W.vd Berg (Ring Steward); R. Engelbrecht (Treasurer); R. Carolissen (Ass.Treasurer)


Mrs Mabel Botha (Stroomop Hokke) who donated her late husband’s loft to Macassar Primary School for Pigeon Project receives recognition certificate from Lourens le Roux.


Dr Wim Peters receives his recognition certificate for Schools project on behalf of The Somerset West Classic Club.


Chairman of the FBHU, Mr Lourens le Roux and partner Jenny at the presentation.


The FBHU Top Ten Championship finishers.


Marius Havenga and Jannie Jacobs (M & J Hokke), FBHU Champions for 2009.


The FBHU Top Ten Car Prize winners for 2009.



Article by Randy Engelbrecht PRO – Federated Board of Homing Unions