Filton College - Bristol Academy Basketball

The Bristol Academy Flyers are a leading semi-professional basketball club playing in the English National League Division 1. The club is the senior squad of the successful Filton College Basketball Academy, which is one of only 6 nationally accredited Basketball Academies in the country, and the only one in the South West of England. This link to Filton College enables us to develop young talented players from 8 years of age. At 16, the students, male and female, receive the opportunity to study a full time academic course in conjunction of 20 hours timetabled basketball coaching.

The objective of our basketball club is “to create excellence through participation and to develop young people as basketball players, coaches and officials”. This will enable the club to grow. Our aim is to establish and maintain our position in the top flight of English basketball while paying particular attention to our junior development programme.

The Bristol Academy Flyers mens team consists of a squad of 16 players from Bristol and the surrounding area alongside top international players from all over the world including American professionals. The sport has a clean healthy image with a contemporary theme, providing positive role models for young people.

Several of our players have been or are involved with the England and Great Britain setups at Under-16, Under-18 and senior levels. These players are in turn able to pass on their experience onto younger members of the team and develop their skills. There is a strong team spirit between members of the senior team, with everyone encouraging each other to perform to the best of their ability.

In the 2012 London Olympics Great Britain will be represented in Basketball, one of the UK’s target sports and our aim is to have members of our club representing their country on this occasion.

The season runs from October until May each year and the Flyers play a minimum of 15 home games and 15 away games each season. Flyers home games take place at the brand new Basketball facility located at the WISE Filton college campus. This is a newly built facility which hosts a number of basketball events such as the South West Area Performance Centre, Junior England training camps and International junior fixtures.

The Bristol Academy Basketball Club emphasises commitment, hard work and fun as three components of success and the results of this are obvious in our short history. With our links to education many of our young players have achieved more than basketball recognition. Many choose to continue in education with opportunities not previously available, securing more options for the future. The club is proud of its links within the community and through local authority support we have made partnerships offering many more people the opportunity to experience the sport and what is on offer.