All - American 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 " . 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 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 ) . 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 , 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 . 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 baseball , All - America teams are selected annually by the American Baseball Coaches Association and " Collegiate Baseball " . 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 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 Association 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 . 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 two East teams and a single West team . 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 . 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 . . Soccer . In soccer , the NCAA annually names an eleven - member All - America team following the season . 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 . 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 . 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 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 . 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 " Parade " 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 . The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association publishes All America lists for Swimming , Diving , Water Polo , and Academics for athletes in aquatic sports .