Sporting success in Bristol has been in short supply over recent weeks – but in one corner of the city there is a team quietly building an impressive portfolio of achievement.

It might not be subject to the same sort of intense media scrutiny offered to the city's football teams – following their ups and, mainly, downs since the turn of the year – but, in Bristol, basketball is starting to thrive.

That is thanks to the recent exploits of the Bristol Academy Flyers, who over the last six years have tasted the sort of success that our football teams could only dream about enjoying on the pitch.

Starting from small beginnings when head coach Andreas Kapoulas – a former Greece junior international – picked up the baton, the Flyers have since enjoyed a rapid rise from the humble surroundings of National League Division Three to become an established club in the country's second-tier league.

Their profile has since been enhanced after the side, pictured right, collected their first piece of significant silverware with a dramatic victory over hot favourites and two-time winners Manchester Magic in the National Cup final at the end of January.

It is a level of success that has seen interest at the turnstile steadily grow from numbers that could be counted on the digits of two hands to the 400 or so eager fans who file into the Filton College WISE Arena as Kapoulas sits down to explain his blueprint for success before another impending night of end-to-end action.

"It is great to see more and more people coming in to watch us," Kapoulas says.

"We started the first year in Division Three and there were about five people coming in to watch us! Now we get 400 or so on a regular basis and have had as many as 800 at some of the bigger games.

"Basketball is obviously not as big as football or rugby in this country and we have to accept that we are not going to get the same sort of crowds, but we are slowly getting the numbers up.

"We set ourselves a four or five year development plan when I first arrived with the main goal to be playing at the highest level we realistically could.

"I was lucky in that there was a good group of players already here and we had instant success by winning promotion from Division Three losing just one game along the way. We finished second in Division Two in the next season and we have consolidated our position in Division One over the last two seasons and won the National Cup. Things are going great for us just now."

Just under two hours later things are going from great to better as the side enjoys another hard-fought victory over Magic in a league clash to keep their bid for an end-of-season play-off spot on track.

That would offer a chance to play for the National League Division One title – but even lifting the silverware when all is said and done at the end of the campaign would not automatically guarantee the Flyers a place amongst the country's elite in the British Basketball League.

Elevation to the fully professional top-flight – the sport's equivalent to football's Premier League – would certainly be the next logical step, but with no opportunity of promotion to what is a closed league it would be costly and not without potential pitfalls.

"We may look at trying to get into the BBL in the next few years but we would want to make that move knowing we are able to do it properly," Kapoulas explained.

"We would have to go fully professional and that would mean increasing budgets because we would need to pay players bigger money to join our team.

"The priority for us right now is to develop our young players and act as a stepping stone to give them a chance to go on to greater things."

Development is indeed a major part of the club's ethos – both on and off the court – as witnessed by the club's association with Filton College and the Academy programme, which offers teenagers from 16 to 19 the chance to play basketball while studying an academic course.

Four of the current senior team have come through the college system, including skipper Greg Streete, from Easton and Great Britain Under-20 international Tyrone Treasure, from Stoke Gifford,

The two 21-year-olds have completed their academic studies at the college but still remain part of the senior team alongside a number of more experienced players and a sprinkling of 'star' US imports.

"We want to enhance our reputation as one of the best colleges in the country to come and play basketball," Kapoulas said.

"We have four (senior team) players from the college programme this year and the intention is usually to have a 50/50 split.

"We also stress the importance of education when potential players come to the college.

"The chances of playing basketball are dependent on performance in the classroom. If they don't do well in that area chances can be limited to play basketball.

"It acts as a good motivation to achieve and I think we have people at the college who might not be here if it wasn't for the opportunity to play basketball and eventually become part of our senior team as a complement to their studies."

Beneath the club's flagship senior team there are also a number of other sides in age groups starting from Under-12 upwards.

The recent addition of a ladies team took the number of players throughout the club to over 300.

Kapoulas added: "One of our priorities is to serve the community.

"We want to get people of all ages involved so we get our coaches out and about to promote the sport in local schools.

"We can only increase the popularity of the sport by getting people involved who may not otherwise have the opportunity to participate.

"You never know where it may lead because we have players in our senior side now who I think have the potential to go on and play professionally.

"We have seen them progress through the various age groups at our club and we would like to see that trend continue."