history gb

How it all began

When André was 7 years old, he took his first step in the loft of his father, Steph van de Wiel. He
had special interest in the pied pigeons and soon the “Clown”, a dark pied cock, became his
favourite. At first, his father was not so pleased with the help of little André, but soon it was
evident that there was more than just attention for the Clown. André assisted more and more in
taking care of the pigeons. He made use of every free moment to clean the loft and to feed the
pigeons. Even during his school-time, he stayed interested in the pigeon sport and he made
himself useful at all the activities in the club: basketing, opening clocks, making the outcome of
the races, he wanted to become familiar with literally everything. Even in the period that he
discovered female beauty, he stayed loyal to his winged friends! When his father Steph died in
1966, the 17 year old boy was faced with the care for the pigeons all by himself. Happily his
brother in law Albert Rademaker had pigeons too and from that moment on they formed a
combination. Albert was the money-lender; André was the manager on the loft.
When André met his present wife at secondary school, she discovered that he was a fanatic
pigeon fancier. It happened more than once that he phoned to tell her that he was belated,
because the pigeons were not home yet!

A new start

In 1971 André planned to get married and his ultimate wish was to get a job in the Mecca of
pigeon sport: the Kempen. Celebrities like Jos van Limpt-
De Klak, Jan van Limpt-De Prut, Toon Jansen-De Smed, Gebr.Borgmans,
Jan Huybregts, etcetera lived there!! Finally he became a teacher in Steensel.
He started with a new strain of pigeons, because he aimed at belonging to the best fanciers. His
pigeons' performances increased more and more, especially when one of the best pigeons turned
out to be a fantastic stock bird. This pigeon with ring number NL76-411037 obtained the name
“De Generaal”, because in these years he was the best pigeon of the area. This bird died when
he was 22 years and 307 days old!!!!
The last twenty years, André belongs to the peak fanciers of Afd.Oost-Brabant with over 4000
members in 1990 till 3000 members in 2004. From 1991 on, we find him on the prizelists as
A.v.d.Wiel & dochter, because his daughter Manon developed interest in the pigeon hobby. She
even took a little loft with young pigeons under her protection. In the meantime, Jan Schreuder
joined the combination. That is why the race name changed to: Comb.v.d.Wiel-Schreuder.
Daughter Manon has left the partnership in 2004.
Since 2008 Jan is racing in Veldhoven as well by the name Comb.Schreuder-v.d.Wiel.
Their partners Willemien (André's wife) and Patricia (Jan's wife) make the team complete.