For years, student athletes would pour into the room under the bleachers in Gym 1 every day before practice, but those days are now over. Lane’s athletic trainer, as well as all CPS athletic trainers, were removed from schools this past winter due to budget cuts and contract disagreements.

Lane’s trainer, Albert Buzun, who worked at the school for four years, was responsible for many of the behind the scenes work for the Athletic Department, as well as working with injured athletes.

“I was the main person who cared for injured athletes from the time of injury till when they returned back to play,” Buzun said.

In addition, he was also responsible for referring students to the proper doctors, as well as filling out the necessary paperwork for injured students and setting rules to help guide them to a safe return into the sport.

Lane has had an athletic trainer since 2002, according to Athletic Director Mr. Hofman, who also served as the trainer for a few years. The program was completely funded by the school, according to Hofman.

The removal of athletic trainers was due to a contract disagreement between Athletico, who employs the trainers, and Chicago Public Schools, according to Buzun.

“Athletico did not want to lose the affliation, therefore they were waiting till last minute before they pulled me out,” Buzun said. “There were many conversations with no agreement before I left.”

Many athletes and coaches are noticing Buzun’s removal from Lane. Wrestler Kaiden Fredrich, Div. 752, said he has suffered three serious injuries, and has had to use multiple doctors due to not having a central trainer.

“I have had a concussion for five months now, and he hasn’t been here to help me out through it,” Fredrich said. “It would have been easier if he was here the whole time.”

One team that is feeling the loss of the trainer is the Track and Field team. The boys team, which has around 130 athletes, typically does not have a lot of training in running.

“For us, he was invaluable. Many of our athletes our new to the sport,” Coach Roof, head coach for the Boys Track and Field team, said. “The risk of overuse injuries is really high.”

Hofman knows how much of a loss the trainer was.

“It’s been a detriment to our athletic program,” Hofman said. “The kids count on him being here.”

The administration is taking steps,  to try to help soften the blow of losing Buzun, and the athletic trainer in general.

One of the steps the athletic department has been taking to help with injuries is to continue to bring in a physician group every Monday to help with injured athletes, and give them evaluations on a weekly basis, Hofman said. This was one of the programs that Buzun helped bring to Lane.

Lane is also doing everything they can to get a trainer in place as soon as possible.

”We are hoping to figure out a way with CPS to provide an Athletic trainer,” Hofman said. “We want to have a trainer in place by the beginning of the next athletic season in August.”

Until then, coaches and athletes are looking for ways to take care of injuries and get back to full health on their own.

“It’s tough,” Roof said.  “We have to rely on a lot of stretching, icing, foam-rolling.”

Buzun is currently working at Guerin Prep High School, a Catholic school in River Grove. He hopes to return to Lane if the contract dispute is ever resolved.

“The one piece of advice that I would give is, listen to your body,” Buzun said. “Don’t wait till the injury get severe.”