Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media.
Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.
[1] Chuck Taylor made the first boys' high school basketball All-American selections in 1949.
Each season the team is determined by the ESPN HS staff based solely on high school accomplishment, regardless of professional potential.
[2] Student Sports Magazine's executive editor Mark Tennis began overseeing All-America selections by the magazine in 1989, with a process that also chooses All-American teams by class (seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen).