High school all-americans

I just talked to a coach regarding high school lacrosse All-Americans and after looking at the list I was quite confused. How does a 65-goal attack player not earn All-American status, while a 38-goal attacker does? Politics? How much does it play into these kinds of honors?

 

Apparently, someone thinks we do. *shrug* I'm just confounded after today, looking for some insight.

 

I bet somone picked 'em based on how hot they were.

 

Or some unreasonable criteria.

 

A few weeks ago, I started a thread about a kid who broke Casey Powell's national scoring record, but was left off the All-America team because of "on-field sportsmanship issues" but the coaches who selected the team did not elaborate on those issues.
I was at the game where the kid broke the record. I talked to the school's AD. In over 100 games, the kid had never been ejected from a game or received a personal conduct penalty. That may not mean anything, but it makes you wonder.

 

The kid from Duxbury (Max something) is supposedly a dick on and off the field. Wish I could add more, but I never actually dealt with him.

 

Maybe so, but if it was never bad enough for him to get tossed from a game, it shouldn't have been enough to keep him off the All-America team.
I realize there was an off-field incident that led to him being suspended for four games or so, but the coaches specifically said it was on-field stuff, while not specifically saying what it was.

 

Many HS all-american honors are based not on HS performance, but on college potential.
It's ridiculous, but it is what it is.

 

Classroom performance, civic involvement, etc. also play a part in some such honors. How those are relevant to a particular sport and it's All-Americans I'm not sure.
I'm sure those lists somehow factor in the level of competition. Did one guy score 65 goals against lower level opponents, while the other scored 38 against the best your state has to offer? Some states are also traditionally tougher in some sports than others, so that likely figures in.
I'm not saying any of this is right or wrong, just sayin...
It's like anything else, including newspaper's own "all-area" teams. Sometimes you're going to miss somebody. It's impossible to ever make a list that turns out "right."