Gymnastics still exists at the Division III level, but likely not for too much longer.

At the NCAA Convention in January, Proposal No. 64 (Playing and Practice Seasons -- Elimination of Out-of-Season Exception) will be brought to the floor, voted on and most likely passed. Many institutions are not aware that this safety exception even exists because they do not sponsor the sports that it directly affects -- fencing, gymnastics, rifle, women's rowing, skiing, and swimming and diving. Yet, the theme at this year's Convention seems to be that "for the good of the whole," every sport's playing and practice season must be standardized.

By proposing this change, the Division III Presidents Council is basically saying that there is no room for gymnastics at the Division III level. That goes completely against the Division III philosophy of participation, the enhancement of education through sport and the opportunity to pursue excellence in your chosen sport. Proposal No. 61 is a reduction to a 19-week season, a measure that, contrary to the opinion of the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in a December 8 NCAA News article, will affect more than just swimming.

The reduction to 19 weeks increases the safety risk involved with performing gymnastics at a high level. The elimination of the safety exception virtually kills the sport in Division III colleges and universities.

Gymnasts want to play, too. The only problem with gymnastics is that it cannot be played outside of our season and outside of our gym like most every other sport. Swimmers can swim, runners can run, tennis players can play tennis and wrestlers can wrestle on campus and out of season. You can play pick-up games in baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, field hockey or lacrosse to keep skills sharp out of season. Even skiers can train on their own. Crew teams can row, in and out of the water. Gymnasts cannot train even the very basics of their sport outside of their practice facility.

Proposal No. 64 basically means that the gymnastics facility on campus will be closed except for 19 weeks during the school year. For the sake of argument, let's say that gymnasts are forced to get ready and compete in just 19 weeks. As a winter sport it means eight weeks of preparation in the fall followed by either three or four weeks of inactivity depending on the school's academic schedule over the holiday break. That period of inactivity sets the gymnast back to halfway through the eight-week preparation period. Then, an 11-week season follows in which gymnasts are attempting to complete skills and routines they know they are capable of doing but haven't had the time to prepare for properly.

Gymnastics is a sport that takes safety very seriously. It is truly the only sport in which the reduction of current practice time (Proposal No. 61) for proper preparation directly increases the athlete's risk of serious injury. If you miss a foul shot, you can shoot another one. If you miss the balance beam by half an inch it could cost you a year of rehabilitation. A gymnastics facility will not be open to the general student population because of the safety risk involved. Proper safety progressions to high-level skills take time. Nineteen weeks isn't enough.

After more than a 10-year commitment to a difficult sport, I as a coach do not have the heart to tell my athletes that they chose the wrong sport all along because they will not be allowed the opportunity to prepare properly to continue performing at the level that they have already attained. The college athletics experience is phenomenal and every athlete in every sport deserves the opportunity to experience it. For gymnasts, it is the culmination of many years of dedication, determination, perseverance and patience in a sport that many people give up on because of its degree of difficulty. The proposed legislation punishes gymnasts for choosing gymnastics as a sport and sticking with it.

I believe the Presidents Council has put blinders on in an effort to reel in Division III athletics. Gymnasts have had no hand in getting Division III athletics to its current state. Gymnasts keep their noses clean, earn great grades and graduate on time. So why is it that they are being cheated out of the same opportunities provided to other athletes at the Division III level?

There is a proposal to provide a waiver to eight Division III institutions that offer financial aid to their designated Division I sports. The general feeling is that not providing the waiver would negatively impact just those eight schools and not Division III as a whole. Well, retaining the safety exception for gymnastics will only impact 15 schools and not the entire division, but eliminating the safety exception will likely spell the doom of gymnastics at the Division III level as we know it.

Eduardo Ovalle is the women's gymnastics coach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.