The First Team Champ basketball goals are an excellent entry-level basketball hoop in that it’s competitively priced in the $699-999 range. There are several factors that set the First Team Champ apart from other systems such as Lifetime, Spalding and Goliath:
1. The first, and most important, quality that sets this and all First Team basketball systems apart from basketball systems such as Lifetime, Spalding and Goliath is the pole. Many of the other systems have 2-to-3-sleeve pole systems. So what they give you are 3 poles that slide together, fixed with a self-tapping screw to comprise a complete basketball pole. Needless to say, this is not ideal. The First Team Champ is one complete 11-guage pole. To give you a practical example, I’m 6’5″ and weigh 250 lbs. I can lift an entire Lifetime system with one hand. I have to pick up one end of a First Team basketball pole; walk it up and put it on my shoulder in order to carry it. There’s a huge difference in quality.
In addition, the other systems require you to fill the pole with concrete in order to reinforce it. So what they are implying is the pole is not strong enough to stand on its own and needs to be reinforced with concrete.
2. The First Team Champ basketball system also has a far superior competition-quality breakaway rim as well as five different backboard options to include acrylic and tempered-glass. As with the pole systems, the quality of the materials used, at the entry-level, are far superior in a First Team basketball system than the other options.
3. One item of note with the First Team Champ basketball system is its front-mounted height adjustment system. You’ll notice in the video below that it raises and lowers using a broom handle to push up on the backboard to raise it and depressing a notch behind the backboard to lower it. Many people have used this type of height-adjustment system before and were not happy with its quality. I have one thing to say about the poor quality they experienced, “Lifetime basketball hoops.” You will not find the same poor quality with a First Team system. This is a high-quality system that not only works very well but will last many, many years.
One final note, a major practical use of a front-mounted height-adjustment basketball system is it’s excellent for driveways where you need to install a hoop that is backed up against either a retaining wall or think shrubs making turing a rear-mounted height-adjustment system difficult to access.
