All-America
Encyclopedia
An All-America team is an honorary
sport
s team composed of outstanding amateur
players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans".
team
sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media
. The term is used primarily with regard to college
and, occasionally, to high school
players. Outstanding professional players usually are referred to as "All-Stars", or, in the case of professional American football
, "All-Pros': (as opposed to Pro Bowl
ers, who are selected by players, coaches, and fans to compete in Pro Bowl
games).
Selection to an All-America team for high school and collegiate players, however, is honorary in nature, and 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
.
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).
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. 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 also colloquially
used to describe stereotypically clean-cut, mainstream or conventional American middle class
people, particularly teenagers
and young adults
. 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 multi-racial society.
All-America teams are selected annually in various collegiate sports.
, All-America teams are selected annually by the American Baseball Coaches Association
and Collegiate Baseball
.
(USTFCCCA). In Division I, the top 40 overall finishers at the meet are all named to the All-America team. The student-athlete's team must be a member of the USTFCCCA.
recognizes College Football All-America Team
s 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.
(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 two East teams and a single West team.
(USILA) annually selects men's lacrosse All-Americans
, distinguished by first team, second team, third team, and honorable mention.
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.
http://www.iwlca.org/landing/index.
US Lacrosse
, the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse, annually selects national boys' and girls' high school All-Americans.
http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav2Left/Players/HighSchool/GirlsHighSchoolAllAmericanProcess.aspx.
, the NCAA annually names an eleven-member All-America team following the season.
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.
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.
, the selection rules are that the top eight finishers in each individual event, as well as American competitors who finish outside of 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.
In all NCAA and NJCAA divisions the top 8 placers at the national championship tournament are considered All-Americans.
magazine in basketball and football, and the McDonald's restaurant chain in basketball
. The McDonald's All-American Team
is unlike other All-America awards because it stages an annual game involving these players. Since 2000, the United States Army
has sponsored its own annual All-American high school football competition.
In 2005, Offense-Defense Sports began publishing a Top 100
ranking for nation's the top high school football athletes. The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl
is held every January, featuring the 88 top-ranked high school seniors.
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.
NISCA (National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association), publishes All America lists for Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, and Academics for athletes in aquatic sports. Individuals do not need to be members in the NISCA organization to participate, but they must submit their information in order to be considered. Submissions for Swimming and Diving are web-based, and submissions for Water Polo and Academic are through paper forms, which can be printed from their website: http://www.niscaonline.org/AwardPrograms/tabid/62/Default.aspx.
Title of honor
An honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...
sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s team composed of outstanding amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans".
Term usage
As of 2009, the term is used in U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
team
Team
A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...
sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. The term is used primarily with regard to college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
and, occasionally, to high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
players. Outstanding professional players usually are referred to as "All-Stars", or, in the case of professional American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, "All-Pros': (as opposed to Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
ers, who are selected by players, coaches, and fans to compete in Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
games).
Selection to an All-America team for high school and collegiate players, however, is honorary in nature, and 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
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
players who were regarded as the best at their respective positions. The first "All-America" team was the 1889 College Football All-America Team
1889 College Football All-America Team
The 1889 College Football All-America team was the first College Football All-America Team. The team was selected by Casper Whitney and published in This Week's Sports....
selected by Caspar Whitney
Caspar Whitney
Caspar William Whitney was an American author, editor, explorer, and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for Harper's Magazine....
and published in This Week's Sports in association with Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
.
The United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
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
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
did not enter the union until 1959).
Other uses
The use of the term has been expanded to honor persons outside of the field of sports, especially informally; for example an individual may be popularly referred to as, an "All-America" level entertainer, educator, or other activity which does not have anything to do with athletics.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. The term "Academic All-America" is a registered trademark of the College Sports Information Directors of America
Sports information director
A sports information director is a type of public relations worker who provides statistics, team and player notes and other information about a college or university's sports teams to the news media and general public...
, 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 also colloquially
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...
used to describe stereotypically clean-cut, mainstream or conventional American middle class
American middle class
The American middle class is a social class in the United States. While the concept is typically ambiguous in popular opinion and common language use, contemporary social scientists have put forward several, more or less congruent, theories on the American middle class...
people, particularly teenagers
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
and young adults
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
. This usage was popularized by the radio series Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy
Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy
Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC....
, 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 multi-racial society.
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. (See #Football (below).All-America teams are selected annually in various collegiate sports.
Baseball
In baseballCollege baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...
, All-America teams are selected annually by the American Baseball Coaches Association
American Baseball Coaches Association
The American Baseball Coaches Association is a baseball coaching organization formed in 1945. It is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level.-History:...
and Collegiate Baseball
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper is a publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" It is most noted for handing out the following awards: Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, Collegiate Baseball Coach of the Year, and Collegiate Baseball...
.
Cross country running
Selections are administered by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches AssociationU.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based professional association representing men's and women's cross country and track & field coaches in the United States. The organization has about 8,000 members...
(USTFCCCA). In Division I, the top 40 overall finishers at the meet are all named to the All-America team. The student-athlete's team must be a member of the USTFCCCA.
Football
The National Collegiate Athletic AssociationNational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
recognizes College Football All-America Team
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
s selected by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, American Football Coaches Association
American Football Coaches Association
The American Football Coaches Association is an association of over 11,000 football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "maintain the highest possible standards in football and the profession of...
, Football Writers Association of America
Football Writers Association of America
The Football Writers Association of America is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA...
, Sporting News, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation
Walter Camp Football Foundation
The Walter Camp Football Foundation is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA. The organization also presents various awards.-Awards:*Walter Camp Player of the Year*CT Player of the Year...
(WCFF) to determine consensus All-Americans.
Ice hockey
The American Hockey Coaches AssociationAmerican Hockey Coaches Association
The American Hockey Coaches Association was formed in 1947 in Boston. The founding members coached college ice hockey but membership has grown to include coaches at every level of the sport from youth hockey to professional ice hockey, although the organization maintains a focus on the collegiate...
(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 two East teams and a single West team.
Lacrosse
The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse AssociationUnited States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association
The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of institutions with varsity college lacrosse programs in all three NCAA divisions, founded in 1885.-Awards:...
(USILA) annually selects men's lacrosse All-Americans
USILA All-American Team
The USILA All-American Team is an honor given annually to the best American men's college lacrosse players at their respective positions by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. The term All-American is derived from the same practice in American college football, in which the...
, distinguished by first team, second team, third team, and honorable mention.
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.
http://www.iwlca.org/landing/index.
US Lacrosse
US Lacrosse
US Lacrosse is the national governing body of men and women's lacrosse in the United States, primarily serving the youth game. It provides a leadership role in virtually every aspect of the game, boasts 63 chapters throughout the United States, and offers programs and services to inspire...
, the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse, annually selects national boys' and girls' high school All-Americans.
http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav2Left/Players/HighSchool/GirlsHighSchoolAllAmericanProcess.aspx.
Soccer
In soccerCollege soccer
College soccer is a term used to describe association football played by teams who are operated by colleges and universities as opposed to a professional league operated for exclusively financial purposes...
, the NCAA annually names an eleven-member All-America team following the season.
Swimming and diving
In NCAA Division I swimmingSwimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, 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.
Tennis
The Intercollegiate Tennis AssociationIntercollegiate Tennis Association
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association is an organization of 1,500 coaches and 15,000 collegiate tennis players, encompassing more than 1,000 college tennis programs...
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.
Track and field
Also administered by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches AssociationU.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based professional association representing men's and women's cross country and track & field coaches in the United States. The organization has about 8,000 members...
, the selection rules are that the top eight finishers in each individual event, as well as American competitors who finish outside of 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.
Wrestling
- See Collegiate wrestlingCollegiate wrestlingCollegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the collegiate and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practised in the early history of the United States...
In all NCAA and NJCAA divisions the top 8 placers at the national championship tournament are considered All-Americans.
High school sports
At the high school level, noted All-America teams are selected by ParadeParade (magazine)
Parade is an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 500 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Advance Publications. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., Parade has a circulation of 32.2 million and a readership of nearly 70...
magazine in basketball and football, and the McDonald's restaurant chain in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. The McDonald's All-American Team
McDonald's All-American Team
The McDonald's All-American Game refers to each of the all-star basketball games played each year for boys' and girls' high-school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top American and Canadian players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the high-school basketball...
is unlike other All-America awards because it stages an annual game involving these players. Since 2000, the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
has sponsored its own annual All-American high school football competition.
In 2005, Offense-Defense Sports began publishing a Top 100
Top 100
Top 100 may refer to:*Billboard Hot 100, the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine...
ranking for nation's the top high school football athletes. The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl
Offense-Defense All-American Bowl
The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl is an annual high school football all-star game typically held in early January, created to spotlight the nation’s top high-school seniors. The game was originally hosted in the U.S...
is held every January, featuring the 88 top-ranked high school seniors.
Athletes who place in the top 15 of each gender division at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships
Foot Locker Cross Country Championships
The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships are a series of annual cross country running races held in various regions of the United States to determine the premier cross country runner in various age groups, but mainly serves to find the best prep cross country athlete in the country...
, a series of annual cross country running races which are held in various regions of the US, are awarded All-American honors.
NISCA (National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association), publishes All America lists for Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, and Academics for athletes in aquatic sports. Individuals do not need to be members in the NISCA organization to participate, but they must submit their information in order to be considered. Submissions for Swimming and Diving are web-based, and submissions for Water Polo and Academic are through paper forms, which can be printed from their website: http://www.niscaonline.org/AwardPrograms/tabid/62/Default.aspx.
See also
- All-Australian teamAll-Australian TeamThe All-Australian Team is an all star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including interchange players and a coach, of the best performed during the season....
- Academic All-American
- All-JapanAll-JapanThe term is a name given to championships or governing bodies that is based in Japan, it may also refer to:-Combat sport:*All Japan Pro Wrestling*All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling*All Japan Kendo Federation*All Japan Ju-Jitsu International Federation...
- All-American American
- AAU Men's Basketball All-AmericansAAU Men's Basketball All-AmericansThe Amateur Athletic Union Men's Basketball All-Americans were players who competed in the Amateur Athletic Union between 1920–21 and 1967–68 and were chosen as the best players in the league during their respective seasons. Founded in 1888, the Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest...