River Light

Two clubs share the pitch at Spartan Athletic Park, on the Aurora University campus. When the River Light women met their neighbours in the home opener, they won 8-0.

River Light did not arrive with a history to lean on. The club started in 2023 and played its first season in 2024, with a men's side in USL League Two and a women's side in the USL W League. Chad Swieca, Heather Bickerton and Charlie Latshaw III set it up, with Latshaw as sporting director and head coach. He left in January 2025 for another job, and the club had to look for new coaching staff a year into its existence.

The identity is borrowed from the city. "River" refers to the Fox River. "Light" refers to Aurora's old title, the City of Lights, earned as the first city in America with public street lights. The teal and yellow of the kit come from the City of Aurora logo. Match reports call the team The Lights.

In 2025 the men finished behind Vermont Green in the Great Lakes Division, and the women behind Minnesota Aurora in the Heartland Division. Des Moines Menace and Sueno FC are among the regular opponents. Among the 2024 men's squad was Noeh Hernández, a Puerto Rico international.

The home games are played on a university campus in a city that has always been proud of its lights.