Oak Park and River Forest senior Kenny Van Spankeren enjoys his new boys lacrosse teammates and proteges.
Van Spankeren plays for East Avenue Lacrosse, a club program that debuted in August with traveling teams from fourth graders up to high school with primarily OPRF and Fenwick players.
On Jan. 18, Van Spankeren was among instructors at the club’s free lacrosse clinic at Fenwick for players from kindergarten through eighth grade.
“I think there was more than 50 kids and everyone was anxious to be there,” Van Spankeren said. “It was awesome seeing these kids who never played lacrosse before having a blast. It was pretty sweet.”
The club was established by Fenwick head coach Jerry Considine, former OPRF assistant coach Joe Opron and Dan Applebaum. They wanted to make traveling lacrosse more accessible to players from the two high schools, but they also tapped a groundswell of youth interest.
“It began as kind of an all-star team of the best varsity players at both schools,” Opron said. “Talking with the guys and how much fun they had in the fall, they wish they had something growing up, which led us to say it’s time to expand the youth program.”
In its first fall tournament, the high school team went 6-0 at the Lacrosse America Shootout in Vernon Hills and finished second in its other two tournaments.
“I don’t know if it was really a surprise. It was nice to know there was something most of your friends and peers from school will be attending,” said Fenwick freshman Zach Jensen.
“It’s a good experience because OPRF and Fenwick are rivals, and still are rivals. It’s good to put a team together when Fenwick didn’t have enough players and neither did OPRF (on their own).”
The club has increased off-season interest. Van Spankeren previously played traveling lacrosse in Western Springs with several teammates who eventually attended Fenwick. The attacker is entering his third varsity season with the Huskies.
“(East Avenue) has caught on really quickly. It’s really cheap and it’s readily available,” Van Spankeren said.
“I thought it was pretty awesome that they were expanding the lacrosse to River Forest and Oak Park. It’s pretty awesome because it’s a good experience to work with kids around you and get to know them.”
Jensen said there were roughly 35 players on the high school team with more than 20 from OPRF. Jensen previously played three travel seasons in Lombard and Western Springs.
“I like that (East Avenue) was a lot more fun and laid back. It wasn’t all about the training. It wasn’t all group stuff,” Jensen said. “We’d break down in groups and (coaches) can be more one on one with you.”
The club has been holding free Sunday clinics at Fenwick in preparation for the spring season, which begins in March. The plan is to have three teams for first through eighth graders during the high-school season before expanding to at least six teams during the summer with three for high schoolers.Â
“The way the older kids have responded has really built the lacrosse community,” Opron said. “As a coach, the greatest thing to watch is not only have the varsity kids learning from us but paying it forward to the next generation of Friar-Huskie players.”
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