Multi-million pounds worth of investment coming into the top of the game has got many in basketball dreaming about a slice of the pie, but at Bradford Dragons it has served purely as an incentive to develop their own infrastructure.

Fourteen months ago, Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners acquired a 45 per cent stake in the British Basketball League, potentially changing the landscape of a sport that has huge participation numbers but no lucrative shop window.

Opinions vary on whether the money is trickling down through the BBL and even further into the National Basketball League pyramid, but for one mainstay of that semi-professional tier in Bradford Dragons, getting their own house in order is the priority.

And they are making a good job of it. Like most sports clubs across the region, Bradford Dragons emerged from Covid with revenue streams reduced and playing options limited, which forced them to strengthen elsewhere.

No slam dunk: Ricky Fetske, who has been one of the Bradford Dragons' long-standing players, in action in a recent National Basketball League Division One game (Picture: Max Lomas)

They did this by developing an academy at Calderdale College, offering players who had represented them through their Under-12s, Under-14s and Under-16s teams a chance to continue playing under the Dragons umbrella and a bridge to the senior team that plays in Division One of the National Basketball League, the second tier.

"It gives our juniors a stepping stone, giving them an opportunity to continue playing basketball every day while focusing on their studies,” explains Tim Redfearn, the club’s general manager.

“And we’ve had a couple of success stories from it, in Jabari Edwards, whose playing in our first team now and getting a lot of minutes, and Cam’ron Simpson, who’s 16, and another Bradford lad.

"It’s great for the club that we’ve got two players who have done that. The terminology in sport these days is ‘see and do’ – can you see it, to do it?

Justin Williams, the Bradford Dragons' sole American import this season, is the National Basketball League's fourth highest points scorer (Picture: Max Lomas)

“For what those guys have done to be a possibility for our current juniors is fantastic.”

Redfearn, himself, embodies the strengthening of the Dragons’ structure. A former player and assistant coach at the club, he was also one of a number of volunteers who kept the club operational.

Last summer, the club named him general manager, making him their first ever full-time employee.

"They needed someone to co-ordinate all the programmes, to generate this one club feel, make sure everyone is moving in the right direction,” says Redfearn.

Jabari Edwards is an example of a homegrown player going through the Bradford Dragons junior ranks, their academy and into the first team. (Picture: Max Lomas)

"We’ve got some fantastic volunteers that support our club from the junior level right up to the seniors. As with all sports clubs in this country, without our volunteers we’d be lost. I was a volunteer but also a college lecturer in sports science. I love basketball, have played all my life, so when this opportunity came up I couldn’t turn it down.”

On the court, Bradford Dragons’ senior team are locked in a six-horse race for the final five play-off spots in the 14-team league.

They play to crowds of between 120 and 200 people at Calderdale College, with this coming Saturday’s game with Manchester Magic (6.15pm tip-off) the penultimate home regular season fixture of the campaign.

Ticket sales are the club’s major source of income. Generating more streams and trying to attract a major sponsor are part of Redfearn’s remit.

New Bradford Dragons general manager Tim Redfearn.

Such modest aims mean any aspirations to be one of the clubs applying to join the likes of Sheffield Sharks as part of the expanding BBL in the coming years is beyond them. There is talk that it will cost £1m to get a licence to join the league.

"Moving forward who knows, you aspire to be the best you can be,” says Redfearn, who points to National League Division One rivals Derby Trailblazers reaching the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy as a positive for the whole league.

“But at the moment we need to be the best in Division One before we can think about being anywhere else, so we’ve got to put our efforts into our programme here; increasing our import players from one to two, doubling our crowd from 200 to 400 people, getting a sponsor in because we’ve got no sponsor.

"It’s all about development for us. Winning’s great but are our young players developing and becoming better players and better people?

"Derby are supported well, it’s a really good club, but it points to the strength we’re developing in Division One which is something as a collective of clubs in the league we’re trying to do, ensure our offering, our skill level and our competition is of a high level. And what Derby have done shows that it is possible.”

Bradford Dragons prioritise developing infrastructure over any grand BBL aspirations