At the Naperville Lacrosse Arena, kids are “crushing it” on the floor as they perfect their lacrosse skills through Naperville Orange Crush.
“Orange Crush is the lacrosse Naperville community team, so we offer camps and training year-round. Our team is a spring sport, so during the spring season, we offer that through the Naperville Park District,” said Orange Crush Lacrosse founder Kevin Benages.
“We’re here to serve the kids first and foremost, get them to love the sport. It’s something hopefully that they stick with for as long as possible,” said Benages.
Former Naperville North coach in charge
Former Naperville North boys lacrosse coach Kevin Benages has been in charge of the organization since its launch in the fall of 2019.
“It started on the grass fields at Fifth Avenue at Naperville North when we had maybe like nine kids out there, then COVID had hit, and we had to shut it down. When we were able to return, we followed up with our winter series where we might have had close to 100 kids out there,” said Benages.
Benages’ main goal for Crush was to help spark a love for the game in kids ages six to 14.
“There was never really a focus to give a kid a stick for the first time, or to provide opportunities to break that entry. So we invested in equipment, rental equipment for first timers so once they find out that they love it, they can invest in that equipment,” said Benages.
Rapid growth from newcomers to champions
After seeing rapid growth, Orange Crush entered its name into the Illinois Youth Lacrosse League in the spring of 2023. Four years later, the 10U boys and 12U girls captured the program’s first two state championships this past May.
“It was awesome. There was so much, like, energy on the field, and everybody was just really happy after everybody got a goal. Almost everybody got a goal, and everybody got to play almost every position,” said 12 U player Ariana Daker.
“We all have been together for a couple of years. So we all know each other, we made new friends, and we played good,” said 10 U player Lucas Zack.
10U player Lucas Zack got his start in the sport four years ago.
“I was thinking to myself, what if I just tried picking up a stick and seeing how it goes? After the first week of picking it up and starting to play, I’m like, dude, this is awesome. I love this sport,” said Zack.
As more players sign on, Benages is excited to see what the future holds for Orange Crush and those continuing their love of the game.
“We have grown year in and year out, both on the boys side, on the girls side. That’s been the dream: to offer both men’s and women’s lacrosse kindergarten through eighth grade and then set them loose to their high school programs,” said Benages.
Finding their footing as they stick with the sport.
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