After years of representing Lane’s teams as athletes, they found their way back as Indians. Only this time they would be back calling the shots as coaches.  

The passion never left them. They returned back 2501 West Addison. It is quite a transition to go from player to coach. They had their reason though for doing so.

Mr. Gonzalez, one of the Boys Track and Field coaches as well as a Boys Cross Country coach, also used to run track and cross country not all that long ago. Gonzalez ran from 2005-2008 on both track and cross country. He always knew he wanted to be a coach. To his surprise he found a teaching opening at Lane soon after graduating college. He jumped at the chance and talked with his former coach, Mr. Kris Roof, who still remains as the coach now, and he became Roof’s assistant coach.

“High school and being on the team shaped me into the kind of person I am today. I wanted to give back,” Gonzalez said.

Going from taking orders to giving orders was the hardest part for Gonzalez. When he ran back in the day he was both a captain for cross country and track, so he had a little experience with telling guys what to do. As a coach, though, that responsibility heightened, he said.

 “I had no idea of the time commitment that coaching takes. I had no idea of the dedication that coaching takes,” Gonzalez said.

As for which he prefers, Gonzalez said he would rather be out there running the races. His competitive drive is still within him.

Varsity Basketball Coach Nicholas Logalbo is a former Lane basketball player.

From then to now he notes the transition of the focus of the team. Now as head coach he instills a strong focus on being a student of the game and playing as a team and being a family. With better technology now as opposed to his days, there is also more of a statistical approach.

Much like Gonzalez, his transition from player to coach did not take all that long.

“[Becoming a coach] was kind of cool for me because I played four years at Lane went to college and played four years there and literally my senior year of college I got called to be the freshman coach,” Logalbo said. “Being a player brought up the passion to be a part of this game and stay a part of the game.”

“Growing up I always wanted to be a player but as I got to high school, the reality set in that being a pro, it is an extremely small percentage, and the reality of where I was as a player started setting in,” Logalbo said. “I knew I still wanted to be around the game but I also  knew I wanted to work with people.”

Now Logalbo actually prefers coaching over playing.

“I love playing, but the holistic experience of knowing you are helping someone become better through a game that you love — there is nothing like that,” Logalbo said.“The most fun part is getting in with the guys, sweating with them and showing them how to work.”