I didn’t have to be there. I make my own schedule and no one would have been critical of my decision had I chosen to take the weekend off. But that’s not how I operate. If there’s a story to tell — there always is — or an event to cover, I’m usually there.

I’ll do it again this weekend in Algona when Webster City takes part in the North Central Conference tournament and the following weekend as well at the Norsemen Duals in Story City. Then come sectionals and then districts and, well, I think you get the picture.

I tell you all of this not because I want a pat on the back for going above and beyond the call of duty. This has been my job for the past 18 years and I try to do it well. But covering your kids and your teams is more than a job to me, always has been and always will.

Being present to watch Bryer McCoy finally get the chance to showcase his skills at heavyweight on Saturday was an honor, not a burden. Following the WCHS football team across the state this past fall, that was as much fun as it was work. Driving through the hills of western Iowa to Sioux City for a Class 4A regional volleyball match in the middle of the week this past fall, it never even crossed my mind to skip it.

Like I said, my work is important to me. I don’t ever want you, the reader, to think I just phoned an assignment in.

This is leading up to a point, I promise, and it’s this: I cover the athletes of Hamilton County to the best of my abilities every day. But come next month, I fear that won’t be possible. There are certain obstacles in place that just might hinder my production.

If you listened to our latest 3 Up, 3 Down podcast, or followed the day-long controversy on Twitter on Monday, then you know about some changes to the media’s access that will be put in place for the state wrestling tournament in late February. If you haven’t been informed at all, I’ll give you the highlights.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association sent out an email to members of the media earlier this month that outlined the changes. For starters, we were told that the Iowa High School Sports Network, not the IHSAA, is now the entity that the print media will go through for its press credentials. That was the first nugget that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The IHSSN owns the broadcast rights to the boys’ state tournaments, specifically football, wrestling and basketball. Just like any business, the IHSSN is out to make money and I don’t begrudge it that. But the fact that a network that has a financial interest in being your primary source of information from prep state tournaments rather than your local newspaper now has the power over said newspaper is troubling, to say the least.

Also in the aforementioned email from the IHSAA was the news that press row would no longer be located in close proximity to the mats at the state wrestling tournament. If you’ve been to the spectacle inside Wells Fargo Arena, then you’re probably familiar.

For a number of years, press row has been my home for close to 40 hours over the course of the three-day tournament. It’s where I watched, it’s where I worked and, heck, it’s where I ate. It’s been a great set-up with, at least to my knowledge, very few complaints.

But beginning with the 2017 state wrestling tournament, the print media journalists are now going to be ushered into a back hallway inside Wells Fargo Arena and that will be our designated work space. Rather than watching the majority of matches live, we’ll watch them on television. We’ll be allowed to travel to the floor to watch our kids live, but after that we’re supposed to retreat.

Is that a bad thing? If it doesn’t have an impact on the work that I can produce for the Daily Freeman-Journal then, no, I suppose it isn’t, at least where you, the reader, are concerned. Whether or not it’s an imposition for me is irrelevant unless the work suffers.

As for photography, well, that’s changing, too. How much? That’s yet to be seen.

In year’s past, photographers have been able to sit matside to get the shots we need. That’s where I got the shots last February of Gavin Dinsdale when he flexed for the crowd and then jumped into the arms of WCHS head coach Chad Hisler after he won the Class 2A 220-pound state title.

This year, print media photographers aren’t going to be allowed matside. We can still be near the mats, only now we’ll have to shoot from behind a barrier. I’ve been informed by the IHSAA that the barrier will be only three to four feet from the mats, so no big deal, right? But when I inquired as to whether or not we would be obstructed in any way, all I received was silence.

The IHSAA has repeatedly told me our access won’t be limited in any way from previous years. Given what I’ve already outlined above, please forgive me if I’m not reassured.

Now we get to the central question that I’ve had: Why? What has happened that has pushed the IHSAA into making these changes.

Lewie Curtis, the Director of Officials at the IHSAA, informed me via email that “we think that there will be more freedom for wrestlers, coaches, cheerleaders, and media.” In another email, after I voiced my concerns he replied, “It is a different setup, to be sure, but limited access is not what is happening. Not having a chair on the arena floor is the main difference.”

As I said, congestion around the mats has never appeared to be a problem. Compared to what it was like when the tournament was held in Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, it’s downright roomy in Wells Fargo Arena.

I have no proof of this, but I fear the changes have something to do with the fact that, for the first time, the IHSSN will stream every match from the first two rounds on the internet. For just $9.95, you can catch all the action from Des Moines from the comforts of your couch. And for the first time the semifinals will be televised live in addition to the finals on Saturday night on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Although, if you live in the central and western portions of the state and are a Mediacom subscriber, you won’t have access to the channel, nor will you even be able to pay to watch those two rounds online. But that’s another story entirely.

The print media will be put into a room away from the floor. The print photographers will now be forced to shoot from behind barriers. But, for some strange reason, I have a feeling that the IHSSN cameras will be down front from beginning to end.

I’m not looking to extract a pound of flesh here. I’m not complaining just to complain either. I’m just pointing out the facts as I understand them and some theories I have while I try to make sense of it all.

As I said, it’s my job to cover your kids and your teams and I always do it to the best of my abilities. I know your kids. I know their stories. The IHSSN does not, but when it comes to the state tournament they own the clout.

It’s sad that this is what high school sports in the state of Iowa have come to. But state tournaments have become big business to the IHSAA, only it doesn’t feel like the athletes’ best interests are being represented.

If it appears like I’m taking this personally, it’s because I am. My job isn’t going to be put in jeopardy if my coverage suffers, that’s not my worry. I just don’t want the next Gavin Dinsdale to be short-changed because of the decisions that have been made.

And you shouldn’t either.