Simon Fry says excitement around Bristol Flyers club is growing as they prepare for season opener against Team USA Select

The sense of excitement at Bristol Flyers Basketball Club is palpable – and justified.

Part of Stephen Lansdown’s Bristol Sport stable – which also includes Bristol City, Bristol Rugby, Bristol Academy WFC and Bristol/Italian racing driver Dino Zamparelli’s DZ Racing – the club is looking forward to its first season in the UK’s only professional basketball league, the BBL.

Home matches at Filton’s 580-seat SGS WISE Arena are likely to be lively and full-capacity affairs, while road trips will take in Glasgow Rocks, Manchester Giants and Sheffield Sharks among others, with the away tie at London Lions on October 3 to be staged at the Copper Box, as featured in the 2012 Olympic Games.

If the end-of-season play-offs are made, the mouth-watering prospect of playing at the O2 Arena awaits.

Before the league action tips-off, however, Flyers will stage their traditional curtain-raiser this Thursday against Team USA Select.

The visitors are a team of unsigned players from Charlotte, North Carolina which has toured Europe for each of the last 15 Septembers giving players the opportunity to showcase their skills and gain professional contracts.

The operation is the brainchild of general manager Sean Kilmartin and fellow former Appalachian State University team-mate David Lawrence. The pair played in Europe in the 1980s and made a ‘beer buddy promise’ while drinking in London, beside the Thames in sight of Big Ben, to give others a similar opportunity by organising exposure tours.

Last season’s match was sold out, with fans enjoying the chance to collect autographs and have photos taken with the tourists. As well as playing in Bristol, Team USA Select will travel to cities across England and in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Finland.

The 2014 roster is 35-strong and a study makes for fascinating reading, with players from places like Miami, Texas and Indiana and institutions like Middle Georgia College, West Virginia State University and Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

For their part, Flyers have their own American import, with 6’3’ guard Doug Herring from Poughkeepsie, New York, having recently signed, followed by 6’7” Danish international forward Mathias Seilund, who has also enrolled on a postgraduate course at the University of the West of England.

Tip-off for Thursday’s match is at 7.30pm, but fans are recommended to arrive early to sample enhanced food and drink offerings, warm-ups, player introductions and the team’s new cheerleaders. The match will also see VIP courtside seating including a bucket of beers and dedicated waiter service, on offer for the first time.

Tickets are now on sale from www.bristolacademyflyers.co.uk: adults £8, concessions £6, children £3, two adults and two children £20, courtside VIP £20.