All-America

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For other uses, see All-American (disambiguation).

An All-American "team" is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players, those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position, who are referred to as All-America or, less precisely, All-American athletes.

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[edit] Term usage

Currently, the term is used in U.S. 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 (and more controversially), 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 Bowlers, 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. Therefore, to be an All-American does not constitute being on a team.

The original use of the term "All-America" seems to have been in reference to a list of college football players who were regarded by the football pioneer, Walter Camp, as the best at their respective positions. Camp first compiled this list in the 1890s.

[edit] Other uses

The use of the term has been expanded in recent years 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 debater, drama coach, or other activity, having nothing to do with athletics.

Additionally, it has been applied to sports in a different way recently in that, Academic All-America teams also are named to honor the academic achievement of student-athletes, whether their sports skills are at an "All-America" level or not.[1]

This concept of team selection is confined largely to the United States because in almost all other countries, national teams that participate in international competitions play a much greater role in sports culture at both adult and age-restricted levels.[citation needed]

In a broader sense, the term all-American is colloquially used to describe stereotypically clean-cut, mainstream/conventional middle-class people, particularly teenagers and young adults, as used for example in the Bobby Bare song All-American Boy.

[edit] 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. Today, the National Collegiate Athletic Association recognizes College Football All-America Teams selected by the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) to determine consensus All-Americans.[2]

Now, there are many All-America teams selected annually in many other major collegiate sports.[citation needed]

[edit] High school sports

At the high school level, the most recognized All-America teams are those selected by Parade magazine in 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 2001, the United States Army has sponsored its own All-American Bowl for the top eighty high school football players across the nation.

In 2005, Offense-Defense Sports began publishing a Top 100 ranking for nation's the top high school football athletes. The rankings have been featured on Rivals, Scout, and most recently Sports Illustrated. The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl is held every January, featuring the top-ranked athletes.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.cosida.com/allamerica/default.asp - Academic All-America Teams as selected by CoSIDA
  2. ^ 2002 NCAA Football's Finest Records Book


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