All-America

An All-America team is either a high school- or higher education-level sports team composed of outstanding players in the United States. The players selected are broadly considered by media and other relevant commentators as the best positional players in a particular sport, for a specific season; for example, an All-American basketball point guard for the 2021–22 season. Such athletes at the high school and college level are referred to as All-Americans.

Term usage

As of 2009, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. The term, which is primarily demonymic, is often used with regard to college and, occasionally, to high school players in the United States and its territories.

Note that similar terms exist for non-amateur athletes: Outstanding professional players usually are referred to as "All-Stars", or, in the case of professional American football, "All-Pros": (as opposed to Pro Bowlers, who are selected by players, coaches, and fans to compete in Pro Bowl games).

Selection to an All-America team for collegiate (or high-school) players, however, is honorary in nature. Likewise, there may also be a lower-tiered accolade referred to as honorable mention that is conferred upon non-team members of similar caliber in the same class. "All-America teams" do not typically play any games as a unit, unlike many of the all-star teams.

The original use of the term "All-America" seems to have been in reference to a list of college football players who were regarded as the best at their respective positions. The first "All-America" team was the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Caspar Whitney and published in This Week's Sports in association with Walter Camp.[1]

In triathlons, USA Triathlon bestows the All America status on the top 10% within their age group.

The term has also been used in athletics in new ways to recognize the academic achievements of student-athletes as "Academic All-America" teams are named.[2] The term "Academic All-America" is a registered trademark of the College Sports Information Directors of America, which began the program in 1952 to recognize college athletes at all levels of competition and in all collegiate sports.

The term All-American is colloquially used to describe stereotypically clean-cut, mainstream or conventional American middle class people, particularly teenagers and young adults. Phenotypically, the stereotype suggests a blond-haired, light-eyed, WASP, Northern European, or "nordic" appearance. This usage was popularized by the radio series Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy, which ran from 1933 to 1951. The "mainstream" culture was dominated by white Americans, but this connotation is changing along with demographics and acceptance of a multiracial society.[3][4]

The United States Army 82nd Airborne Division was given the nickname "All-American" because its members came from all 48 U.S. states which, at that time, constituted the United States (Hawaii and Alaska did not enter the union until 1959).

Collegiate sports

Each year different sets of All-American teams are recognized toward consensus and unanimous selection recognition. A "unanimous selection" is a player who is listed as a first team All-American by all recognized lists. A "consensus All-American" is a player who is listed as a first team All-American by at least half of the recognized lists. All-America teams are selected annually in various collegiate sports.

Archery

In collegiate archery competitions All-America selections are determined by the US Collegiate Archery (USCA) association. All-American honors are awarded for Olympic Recurve, Compound Target, and Bowhunter divisions. All-American honors are awarded to the top 10 archers in each division based on aggregate scores from the National Indoor and Intercollegiate Championships each year.

Baseball

In baseball, All-America teams are selected annually by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball.

Basketball

In Division I men's basketball, the National Collegiate Athletic Association recognizes consensus All-America teams via a points system, currently based on teams chosen by four entities: the Associated Press (AP), the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Sporting News, and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Many other bodies and publications select their own All-America teams.

In Division I women's basketball, the NCAA recognizes unanimous first-team selections since 1995 based on selections from the AP, USBWA and Women's Basketball Coaches Association.[5]

Cross country running

Selections are administered by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). In Division I, the top 40 overall finishers at the national meet are all named to the All-America team. In Division III, as of 2017, the top 40 finishers garner All-American distinction (previously top 35). The student-athlete's team must be a member of the USTFCCCA.[6][7]

Fencing

Based on the NCAA Fencing Championships, the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association annually selects athletes for All-American first team, second team, third team, and honorable mention titles.

Football

The National Collegiate Athletic Association currently recognizes College Football All-America Teams selected by the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) to determine consensus All-Americans.[8]

Golf

All-American honors are awarded by the GCAA for men's golf.

Gymnastics

In NCAA men's gymnastics, all American status is awarded to the top 8 finishers in the national championship.

Ice hockey

The American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) selects All-Americans at the Division I and Division III levels, for both men and women. For Division I men, they select a first- and a second-team for East and for West; for Division I women, they select national first- and second-teams. For Division III men, they select a first- and a second-team for East and for West; for Division III women, they select a first and second team for both East and West.

Lacrosse

The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) annually selects men's lacrosse All-Americans, distinguished by first team, second team, third team, and honorable mention.[9]

The Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) annually selects women's lacrosse All-Americans, distinguished by first team, second team, third team, and honorable mention.

US Lacrosse, the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse, annually selects national boys' and girls' high school All-Americans.[10]

Rowing

The American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) and Collegiate Rowing Coaches of America (CRCA) name All-American teams for men and women respectively.[11]

Rugby union

The term All-America was used for the student rugby teams that toured Australia in 1912 and New Zealand in 1913, see Rugby union in the United States.

Sailing

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) selects All-American teams annually at the end of every full racing season. The selected sailors are then inducted into the ICSA Hall of Fame.[12]

Soccer

In soccer, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America annually names an eleven-member All-America team, as well as Division I women, and Division II and III teams.[13]

Swimming and diving

In NCAA swimming and diving, athletes and relay teams who make the championship final (top eight) are considered First-Team All-Americans. Athletes and relay teams that qualify for the consolation final (determines places 9–16) are considered Honorable Mention All-Americans.[14] All-American teams are selected by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).

Tennis

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association annually selects men's and women's D-1 players with the following criteria SINGLES (denoted by 'S') 1.) Top 16 seed in NCAA Singles Championships, or 2.) Reach round of 16 in NCAA Singles Championships, or 3.) Finish in the Top 20 of the final ITA Rankings. DOUBLES (denoted by 'D') 1.) Top eight seed in NCAA Doubles Championships, or 2.) Reach quarterfinals of NCAA Doubles Championship, or 3.) Finish in Top 10 of final ITA Rankings.[15]

Track and field

Also administered by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the selection rules are that the top eight finishers in each individual event, as well as American competitors who finish outside the top eight in their event but are among the top eight of the American finishers in an event, earn All-America designation. Relays are judged strictly on a top-eight basis. The cutoff of eight places is the same for both indoor and outdoor competition. The student-athlete's team must be a member of the USTFCCCA.[16] Eligible students from all three divisions and the NAIA are chosen.

Volleyball

The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) selects five NCAA All-America teams. In women's volleyball, it selects teams for all three NCAA divisions. In the men's game, teams are chosen in the National Collegiate division (which includes members of Division I and Division II) and in Division III. The AVCA also selects teams for the NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA.[17]

Wrestling

In all NCAA, NJCAA, NAIA, NCWA, and CCCAA divisions, the top 6 or 8 placers at the national championship tournament are considered All-Americans.[18]

High school sports

At the high school level, noted All-America teams are selected by Parade magazine in football, and from 1957 to 2015 in basketball.[19] In baseball, the ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Baseball Team has been selected annually since 1969.[20]

Also in basketball, the McDonald's restaurant chain selects players annually for its McDonald's All-American Game,[21] and there is also a Ballislife All-American Game. In football, there is the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the Under Armour All-America Game. Since 2000, the United States Army has sponsored its own annual All-American high school football competition, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which includes an All-American football team, split East and West, and an All-American marching band.

In 2005, Offense-Defense Sports began publishing a Top 100 ranking for nation's the top high school football athletes.[22] The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl is held every January, featuring the 88 top-ranked high school seniors.[23]

Athletes who place in the top 15 of each gender division at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, a series of annual cross country running races which are held in various regions of the US, are awarded All-American honors.[24]

The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association publishes an Academic All America Awards list for graduating seniors that have maintained a minimum GPA of 3.750, and have lettered in their high school programs in swimming, diving, or water polo.[25]

The National High School Coaches Association also honors the nation's top student athletes on a yearly basis, as "High School Academic All-Americans".[26]

In 2020, High School Football America began publishing an annual Academic All-America Team honoring thousands of student-athletes from around the nation.[27],

See also
Look up all-American in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • AAU Men's Basketball All-Americans
  • Academic All-America
  • All-Australian team
  • All-Japan (disambiguation)
  • Underclass All-American

References
  1. The All-America Team for 1889 selected by Casper Whitney is identified in the NCAA guide to football award winners Archived July 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "CoSIDA - Academic All-America". September 13, 2007. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  3. "Do America's Changing Demographics Impact Politics?". NPR.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  4. Springer, Sarah (April 6, 2012). "Can there ever again be an 'all-American' beauty?". CNN. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  5. "Women's Basketball Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA. 2021. p. 6. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  6. "Washington women win NCAA cross country title" Archived August 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, The Seattle Times, November 25, 2008
  7. "USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Cross Country Media Handbook" Archived June 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (pdf format), Ustfccca.org, August 19, 2009
  8. Deitch, Scott E. (Ed), 2002 NCAA Football's Finest Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (pdf format), National Collegiate Athletic Association, February 2002
  9. USILA All-American Teams Archived December 1, 2014, at archive.today, United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, 2009
  10. "2013 All-America Teams". US Lacrosse. July 17, 2013. Archived from the original on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  11. "Athlete Awards - Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association". Collegerowcoach.org. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  12. "ICSA Hall of Fame". College Sailing. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  13. "NSCAA Awards" Archived January 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, National Soccer Coaches Association of America
  14. "ACC Records 18 All-American Performances and a national champion at 2006 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championship" Archived May 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Atlantic Coast Conference, March 31, 2006, "All-America honors go to student-athletes who finish 1–8 (both individual events and relay events); Honorable Mention All-America honors go to those who finish 9–16."
  15. 2004 ITA All-America Teams Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  16. USTFCCCA All-Americans Archived November 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
  17. "AVCA All-America Awards". avca.org. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  18. Morris, Tim, "Four-time All-American Gaeta in rare company", April 18, 2007, "Top 8 finishers earn All-American" Archived January 24, 2013, at archive.today
  19. O'Shea, Michael, "Meet PARADE's All-America High School Football Team" Archived August 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Parade, 2 March 2009
  20. "ABCA/Rawlings All-Americans Index". www.abca.org. American Baseball Coaches Association. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  21. "The Selection Process", McDonald's All-American High School Basketball Games
  22. "Offense-Defense All-American Bowl", Offense Defense Sports Archived November 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  23. "Local players headed to 2010 Offense-Defense game" Archived October 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Miami Herald, October 12, 2009
  24. Gerweck, Jim, "It's the Little Things: Foot Locker Tidbits" Archived December 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Running Times Magazine
  25. "Academic All America Award". National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  26. "Academic All Americans". National High School Coaches Association. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  27. "2021 Academic All-America Team powered by scoutSMART". April 19, 2022.
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