| February 6,2014 - US Lacrosse is the sponsor of the annual All American awards which is one of several award categories sponsored for scholastic participants by the national organization.
 The awards process is overseen by long time high school advocate, Tom Hall, who happens to also be the current New York State (NYSPHSAA) Lacrosse Chairman and was the Head Coach at Fayetteville-Manlius for more than 30 years.
Lacrosse "areas" which in Section Five relate to leagues, petition US Lacrosse for "recognition". An area can be defined in different ways in different parts of the country. For example, in a State with very few lacrosse teams might be an area for consideration. In a place, like central New York, with many teams, a league might serve as an area.
The Numbers
An area must have a minimum of five Varsity level teams in order to qualify. A "team"? must meet the following tests:
- It must be a Varsity level team, regulated by a school board (public) or governing body (private)
- It must be regulated by state, school or league eligibility rules.
- It must have financial and legal accountability to the school board
- It must be viewed in the same way as any other "Varsity" level sport in the district
One All American award is generally allowed for each group of five teams although some latitude is given when leagues are close to a threshold and have met the minimums.
An area with less than five teams (like GRALL with four teams) does not get an All American award, but is eligible for an Academic All American, and some other awards.
In Section Five, the following All American awards are available:
- Monroe County with 17 teams is entitled to 3 All Americans in 2006
- Finger Lakes with 9 teams is allowed 2 All Americans in 2006
- GRALL with 4 teams is not allowed an All American until they add one more team to their league.
Selection Procedure
The Varsity coaches in each area submit their nominations in writing before the selection meeting (in Section Five usually the post season league meetings). Voting is done by written ballot. In the case of a tie, if the tie is between players in different classes, the more senior player wins, otherwise the tie is broken by assigning a point schedule (5 points for first choice, 3 points for second, 1 point for third). If, after this process there is still a tie, Tom Hall will be consulted by the area representative.
See the "Other National Awards" article for information about Academic All Americans, Coach of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year and Man of the Year.
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