The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-America team for their sport. Some sports have multiple All-America teams, and list the honorees as members of a first team, second team, or third team. All-America teams are composed of outstanding U.S. amateur athletes. Individuals falling short of qualifying for the honor may receive All-America honorable mention. The designation is typically used at the collegiate level, although, beginning in 1957,

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

athletes in football began being honored with All-American status, which then carried over to other sports like basketball and cross-country running. The selection criteria vary by sport. Athletes at the high school and college level placed on All-America teams are referred to as ''All-Americans.''

Term usage

Individuals earn All-America honors in their sport either by athletic achievement at a championship event or by being selected by members of the national media, coaches' association, or through a poll. The All-American terminology is primarily a demonym and is often used with regard to college and occasionally to high school players in the United States and its

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

. 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 An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

'' 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 College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

players who were regarded as the best at their respective positions. The first "All-America" team was the

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 Caspar Whitney and published in ''This Week's Sports''. The team selected by Whitney in 1889 marked the origin of the "All-Am ...

selected by

Caspar Whitney Caspar William Whitney (September 2, 1864 – January 18, 1929) was an American author, editor, explorer, outdoorsman, and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889, when he worked for '' ...

and published in ''This Week's Sports'' in association with

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American college football player and coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage a ...

. In triathlons,

USA Triathlon USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for the multisport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon is a member federation of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and ...

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. The term "Academic All-America" is a registered trademark of the

College Sports Information Directors of America College Sports Communicators (CSC) is a membership association for all strategic, creative and digital professionals working in intercollegiate athletics across all levels for colleges, universities and conferences across the United States and Cana ...

, which began the program in 1952 to recognize college athletes at all levels of competition and in all collegiate sports.

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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, All-America teams are selected annually by the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

and ''

Collegiate Baseball ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

''.

Basketball

In Division I men's basketball, the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

recognizes consensus All-America teams via a points system, currently based on teams chosen by four entities: the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP), the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

, ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'', and the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

(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 The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...

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.

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

currently recognizes

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term '' All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Footbal ...

s selected by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

, ''

'', and the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit ...

(WCFF) to determine consensus All-Americans.

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 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, althou ...

(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 The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

(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.

US Lacrosse USA Lacrosse, a Recognized Sport Organization of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, is the governing body of men and women's lacrosse in the United States. It provides a leadership role in virtually every aspect of the game and has ...

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

Rowing

The

American Collegiate Rowing Association American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) is one of the governing bodies of college rowing in the United States, together with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA). History Est ...

(ACRA) and

Collegiate Rowing Coaches of America Collegiate may refer to: * College * Webster's Dictionary, a dictionary with editions referred to as a "Collegiate" * ''Collegiate'' (1926 film), 1926 American silent film directed by Del Andrews * ''Collegiate'' (1936 film), 1936 American musi ...

(CRCA) name All-American teams for men and women respectively.

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 Rugby union in the United States (Almost always referred to as simply “Rugby”) is played at youth, high school, college, amateur, professional, and United States national rugby union team, international levels and governed by USA Rugby. The ...

Sailing

The

Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America (ICSA) is a volunteer organization that serves as the governing authority for all sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. ...

(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.

Soccer

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

United Soccer Coaches The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

(formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, or NSCAA) annually names an eleven-member All-America team, as well as Division I women, and Division II and III teams.

Swimming and diving

In NCAA

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

, 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. All-American teams are selected by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).

Tennis

The

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches' association of United States college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Divi ...

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

Administered by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the selection rule differs for

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

compared to

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

, Division III,

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

and NAIA. For all categories, the top eight finishers in each individual event are awarded First-Team All-America designation, while Division I athletes placed ninth through sixteenth are awarded Second-Team. Relays are judged strictly on a top-eight basis. The cutoffs are the same for both indoor and outdoor competition. The student-athlete's team must be a member of the USTFCCCA, and relay members must run in the finals to earn All-America status. In

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

track and field before women's sports were added to the NCAA, All-America certificates were awarded to the top six athletes at the national outdoor or indoor championships per event.

Volleyball

The

American Volleyball Coaches Association The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is currently headquartered in ...

(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 The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 national ...

and NCCAA.

Wrestling

In all

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, NAIA,

NCWA The National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) is a nonprofit association of 162 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organize the wrestling programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canad ...

, and

CCCAA The California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A; formerly CCCAA) is a sports association of community colleges in the U.S. state of California. It oversees 108 athletic programs throughout the state. The organization was formed in ...

divisions, the top 6 or 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 ''Parade'' magazine in football, and from 1957 to 2015 in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In baseball, the

ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Baseball Team The ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Baseball Team has been named by the American Baseball Coaches Association every year since 1969, with the exceptions of 1993 and 2020. Between 1971–1975 and in 2000, only one team was selected per year. I ...

has been selected annually since 1969. Also in basketball, the

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

restaurant chain selects players annually for its

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is an American all-star basketball game played each year for boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the hi ...

, and there is also a

Ballislife All-American Game The Ballislife All-American Game is an annual American all-star game featuring high school basketball players. It was founded in 2011 by Ballislife.com to provide a stage for West Coast players who were not selected to other All-American games. A ...

. In football, there is the

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

and the

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game wa ...

. Since 2000, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

has sponsored its own annual All-American high school football competition, the

, 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. 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 The Eastbay-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 ...

, a series of annual cross country running races which are held in various regions of the US, are awarded All-American honors. 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. The National High School Coaches Association also honors the nation's top student athletes on a yearly basis, as "High School Academic All-Americans". In 2020, High School Football America began publishing an annual Academic All-America Team honoring thousands of student-athletes from around the nation.,

References

{{reflist College sports All-Americans High school sports in the United States Student athlete awards in the United States