All-America
An All-America "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-American athletes.
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, who are selected by the 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 by the football pioneer, Walter Camp, as the best at their respective positions. Camp first compiled this list in the 1890s.
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 particpate 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-America is colloquially used to describe stereotypically clean-cut, mainstream/conventional middle-class white people, particularly teenagers and young adults, as used for example in the Bobby Bare song All-American Boy.
Collegiate sports
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]
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.
See also
References
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