With most of the hard racing behind us, this is the time of year when many fanciers start looking back over the season.
- Which pigeon really stood out?
- Which one kept appearing on the result sheet?
- Which youngster showed the most promise?
- And which performance perhaps deserved more attention than it received at the time?
The opening of the RPRA National Awards 2026 gives fanciers a good reason to take another look.
Entries are now open, with the closing date set for Friday 6 November 2026 at 11.59pm.
For many fanciers, the first reaction may be that national awards are something for the big names and famous lofts.
But that is exactly why it is worth checking the results before making that assumption.
A strong season is often built quietly.
One good race is easy to remember. A pigeon that performs week after week can sometimes be taken for granted.
That is where the National Awards become interesting.
The short distance awards require five performances between 65 and 250 miles, while the middle distance awards require two performances between 251 and 450 miles.
There is also an award for the best all round performance by a single pigeon, where three performances are considered.
Young birds have their own category, and there are separate opportunities for intermediate fanciers and young fanciers.
For many lofts, this may be the moment to look again at a pigeon that simply kept doing its job.
Perhaps it was never the biggest winner in the loft.
Perhaps another pigeon took the headlines.
But when the season is viewed as a whole, consistency begins to tell its own story.
That is what these awards can reveal.
The essential supplies for top lofts, used and tested by The Pigeons Boss…
-
Sale!
Pigeon Boss Champions Pack
Save €18 with the complete five product championship system....Original price was: € 179,75.€ 161,75Current price is: € 161,75.Add to cart -
Travipharma | Worm Tabs
Individual tablet with 20 mg flubendazole for targeted treatment...€ 22,95Add to cart -
Fly Max | Keto Fly
Ketone based liquid supplement designed to support energy availability,...Price range: € 40,00 through € 65,00Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
When one performance means more
The long distance categories bring another side of pigeon racing into focus.
Performances from 450 miles and beyond are considered, with awards available for adult fanciers and younger competitors.
These performances are judged by a panel.
That makes sense.
At long distance, a simple placing does not always tell the full story.
Every long distance fancier knows that some races stay in the memory for years.
The wind may have been against them.
The race may have stretched deep into the day.
The loft may have been quiet for far too long.
Then one pigeon appears.
For the fancier standing beneath the sky, that arrival can mean more than any line on a result sheet.
Those are the performances that deserve to be remembered.
Recognition for younger fanciers
The awards also give younger fanciers a chance to be recognised.
There are short distance and middle distance awards for young fanciers, together with long distance categories.
The Guy Barrett Trophy goes a step further by looking not only at performance, but also at the contribution a young fancier makes to the sport.
That is important.
Pigeon racing needs young people who are proud to race pigeons, proud to compete and proud to become part of the sport.
Giving them national recognition can only help strengthen that future.
Take another look
Before the 2026 season is completely closed, it may be worth sitting down with the results one more time.
- Not from memory.
- Look at the actual results.
- Look at the distances.
- Look at the performances.
- Look at the pigeons that appeared again and again.
Sometimes a fancier only realises how good a season has been when all the results are placed together.
There may be a pigeon in your loft that deserves more recognition than you first thought.
And that is really what the RPRA National Awards are about.
Recognising the pigeons that performed.
Recognising the fanciers behind them.
And making sure a good season is not simply forgotten when the next one begins.
Entries for the RPRA National Awards 2026 close at 11.59pm on Friday 6 November 2026.
So before the season becomes history, take one more look at your results.
You might discover that one of your pigeons has already written a story worth remembering.
Jan de Wijs
The Pigeon Boss
