Some fanciers are mainly busy with their own result sheet. And then there are a few who dare to think bigger. Who do not just want to make their own dream come true, but also those of other fanciers. In that category you find Mat Janssen from Gennep. He dreams of smashing results on Barcelona, Tarbes and in the finals of the big One Loft Races. Only his biggest thrill is not necessarily holding the clock himself. Mat wants you to be the one holding that clock. With his pigeons. With his breeding base. With his system.
He has spent a lifetime tweaking, observing and investing. Now that he focuses fully on breeding and OLRs, the picture is complete. Mat is not a soft dreamer on slippers, but a sharp thinker with a plan. His dream is simple. Your dream pigeon should be born on his breeding loft.
His own course, his own vision
What Mat does is not a little hobby on the side. He is deliberately building a professional breeding colony, with a very clear direction. The toughest marathon classics. The most prestigious international One Loft Races. No half choices, no drifting in all directions.
He thinks like an entrepreneur, plans like a top coach and selects like a hard long distance man. Everything on his breeding loft has a reason. A pigeon does not stay because she looks nice in the loft, but because she adds something to the dream. Better performances, stronger base, more depth.
The result is a breeding programme that is not built on “nice names”, but on logical structure and proven quality.
A breeding colony you rarely see
What sits in Gennep on Mat’s breeding loft is no exaggeration to call a genetic goldmine. Not because it sounds nice, but because the foundations are rock solid.
On his breeding loft you find direct children and close family of real top pigeons. Think of the base breeders of PWA van der Meulen, including the legendary 823, Crack 61, De Bergerac, 32nd National Barcelona and Barcelona Girl. Add to that the Verweij de Haan stars around Milos, Red Rose and Grace. Then mix in the modern power of Robin Bakhuis, the raw long distance engine of Bert Saarloos, the Barcelona power of Piet de Vogel, the winning material of Team de Hoogh and the proven class of Chris Debacker.
This is not a random collection where a few big names are hidden in between. This is built like a national football squad. Only the best make the team. The rest watch from the stands.
DNA, gender and facts instead of coincidence
Dreaming is nice. But Mat wants your dream to rest on facts as well. That is why all breeding pigeons and all youngsters he offers come with a DNA certificate and gender determination.
No guesswork, no question marks, no “I think this is how it is”. Mat wants you to know exactly what you are bringing into your loft. Which genes, which family, which gender. It fits his background and way of thinking. Structure, clarity, control.
His breeding loft runs like a professional project. That means that as a buyer you do not just buy a pigeon, you also buy the certainty that the paperwork is correct. That shortens the road to success. You do not lose years on wrong pairings and wrong assumptions.
Dreams of Barcelona and OLR
The strength of Mat lies in his combination of classic and modern. He builds lines that can handle the toughest work on the marathon classics, and at the same time are suitable for international One Loft Races.
These are pigeons made to eat kilometres, to handle headwinds and still keep the will to come home. But they are also pigeons that can cope in an OLR system between thousands of competitors from all over the world.
In his family you see both pure marathon lines and OLR references. That is not a random side effect, it is a conscious choice. He believes in pigeons with depth, character and race toughness. Pigeons that do more than arrive nicely a few times. Pigeons that can carry a career.
Mat dreams, you fly
The beautiful thing about a fancier like Mat is that he measures his success in the joy of others. Of course he enjoys every strong reference, every result where his name is in the pedigree. But the real thrill is that moment when somewhere, in whatever country, a fancier lands his dream result with a pigeon that carries Gennep in the background.
For that fancier it may be a life goal. A national top ten. A One Loft Race final. A championship after years of hard work. For Mat it is the confirmation that his breeding programme works as intended. He does not breed only for himself. He breeds for everyone who wants to move up a level.
Whether you are a seasoned marathon specialist who wants to hit hard one more time, or an ambitious OLR player who wants to make a name internationally, with Mat you are not buying a lottery ticket. You are buying a chance with a plan.
Why this is good for the sport
In a time where people often complain that “the sport is going backwards”, someone like Mat shows that it can be different. Investing in quality. Being transparent about origin, DNA and gender. Consciously building strong base pigeons for the future.
That does not only lift his own project, it lifts that of his buyers too. The more serious breeding base there is across the sport, the stronger the sport becomes. Results become better, stories become stronger and motivation grows.
This is exactly the type of fancier the sport needs. People who dare to dream, invest and share.
The dreamer from Gennep
Call him the dreamer from Gennep if you like. But a dreamer with a plan, a breeding loft that runs like a high performance base and a very clear mission. His pigeons are not only there to feed his own ego, but to give your ambitions wings.
Whether your next dream pigeon will carry a ring that traces back to Gennep is your choice in the end. Mat has already done his part. He has built the base, designed the pairs, bred the youngsters.
The question is simple. Do you dare to invest in your dream? Stay tuned, a new auction is coming up!
Jan de Wijs
The Pigeon Boss
