Beginning next year, college coaches who want to get in touch with high school recruits may have to delete text messaging from their communication choices. At the NCAA's annual convention in January, the Division I Management Council voted to forward to the membership for feedback an Ivy Group proposal that would eliminate all text and instant messages.

Like faxes and e-mail, instant and text messages are currently classified as letters, and there is limit to the number a coach may send to a recruit. But some administrators feel unlimited text messaging from college coaches is getting out of hand, and student-athletes tend to agree. During the council meeting, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee spoke out against what it feels is an intrusive practice. "It's new and it's technically hip, but it's not necessary," Anna Chappell, Division I SAAC Chair and former University of Arizona student-athlete told the The NCAA News. "There are a lot of other ways to make a personal connection."

"The NCAA has been struggling with how to regulate computer-mediated communications for a long time," adds Jacqueline Blackett, Associate Athletic Director at Columbia University. "We feel like we need to see this issue through the eyes of student-athletes and address some of the problems we've been hearing about."

The Management Council will review the issue at its meeting in April. In the meantime, the Ivy Group proposal is up for comment from Division I colleges and universities, and Council members recommend that administrators respond to the proposal, as well as the option of doing nothing and leaving text messages unregulated, and anything between the two positions.

To read the Ivy Group's proposal, go to: www.ncaa.org/wps/portal. Click on "Rules & Bylaws" under the "Legislation & Governance" tab, then click "Division I" under "Proposed Legislation." The proposal number is 2006-40.