Bill Pensom wrote many,
many years ago, I think it was in the Twenties, that kit competition was
undoing the Birmingham Roller. The rules are such, that the superior roller
is penalized because it is not an ideal kit bird. Everyone knows that the
deep rolling pigeon simply does not fit into kit competition. However,
most roller breeders would agree that the most memorable birds they have
seen are those which rolled deep, when the quality and speed of roll was
also part of the package. In fact, if one thinks about it, birds in kit
competition are rewarded mainly for rolling in unison rather than for quality
of roll. It cannot even be said that they are judged for quantity rather
than quality, because they aren't really being equitably judged for the
number of birds actually rolling.
Beginning on page 119
of Pensoms book he stated: "The more turns a kit of tumblers will do, the
less valuable they are as individual performers. The better the turn, the
better the individual birds.”
"Incidentally, the deep
roller is at a greater disadvantage in a flying competition than the short
worker or tumbler, and for this reason the best breeders of rolling pigeons
lost all interest in flying competitions....."
"It is to be regretted
that flying competitions under these rules tend to destroy the better quality
performing tumbler. I believe that pigeons should be given prizes for individual
merit."
Kit competition as it
exists gives its maximum reward to the kit which performs a full turn,
as if this was the do all and end all of the Birmingham Roller. If this
is to be the goal of the roller breeder, then a different kind of bird
must be produced which will fare well in these contests. I believe that
the emphasis has been placed on producing this kind of roller in too many
lofts for far too long, and that the bird which is referred to as the "champion"
is far more scarce than in the old days when that term originated.
For this reason I personally
have no interest in kit competition as it is now structured, and would
like to see it revised.
I would like to see a
system, which accurately rewarded the amount, as well as the quality of
roll in a contest. Let me explain....
If a kit is scored twenty
points for a full turn, then each bird is receiving a full point for its
roll, regardless of depth, speed or style. On the other hand, if a kit
is scored only a single point for a quarter turn, then each bird is receiving
only from 1/5th to 1/9th of a point for it's roll, again regardless of
quality! So under this system the birds will receive from five to nine
times the score for a roll although it may very well be of inferior quality.
Therefore the way to correct this injustice would have to be, in my opinion,
to reward each bird that performs to a certain standard the same point
value regardless of how many happen to be rolling. This way if nine birds
were to roll at the same time they would be scored nine points rather than
only one.
Furthermore, the birds
which most closely approach the ideal should be scored higher for the superiority
of their performance. The same criteria should be used to evaluate the
kit as a whole as would be used to evaluate a single bird in individual
competition.
I know that there are
many other roller breeders out there who believe as I do, that if a system
of judging rewards inferior qualities and penalizes superior qualities,
that system of judging is inferior and must be changed to improve the hobby.
Questioning the status
quo may not be a popular thing to do, since many rollermen and women are
satisfied with things the way they are, but I am willing to stick my neck
out if it will serve to benefit the hobby. This change should have been
made many years ago when Bill Pensom was still around and could have seen
it. I for one humbly consider myself to be one of his many "disciples",
and I wish to honor his memory by following his advice in this matter.
---Paul M. Gomez---
----April 1995---