All-American

An All-America team is a hypothetical American sports team composed of outstanding amateur players. These players are broadly considered by media and other relevant commentators as the best players in a particular sport, of a specific season, for each team position.

Such athletes at the high school and college level are given the honorific title and typically referred to as "All-American athletes" or simply "All-Americans".

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.

Note that similar terms exist for non-amateur athletes: 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 collegiate (or high-school) players, however, is honorary in nature. "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 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.

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