Former Naperville Central soccer star Ella Burke raced up and down the field doing what she does best while playing the sport she loves the most.
It was a feeling Burke had feared she would never experience again and a sight many thought they would never see again.
Burke, an incoming senior at Cincinnati, built a reputation as one of the toughest defenders in the state when she played for the Redhawks. But her tenacity was tested by major injuries that kept her sidelined for nearly two years. So her return to action this summer with River Light FC, an Aurora-based team that plays in the preprofessional USL W League, was cause for celebration.
“We were really excited to have her,” River Light coach Anne Iwinski said. “She sent a text maybe two weeks before the season started. She said, ‘I’ve decided I’m going to be home for the summer. Do you have room?’ I said, ‘We’d love to have you.’”
Iwinski, a member of the Naperville Central Athletic Hall of Fame who coaches the boys and girls soccer teams at Marmion, has things in common with Burke. They played for the same basketball and soccer coaches in high school before embarking on Division I soccer careers.
Burke played for River Light in 2024, before Iwinski joined the club, in advance of her sophomore season at Cincinnati. But her fortunes changed that fall when she suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in her right knee.
“Things were going really well,” Burke said. “In practice, I just took a wrong step, and I felt the whole thing go. I knew right when it happened that I had torn it. It was gone.”
Burke’s sophomore season went with it. But she had high hopes for returning for her junior year until she was diagnosed with compartment syndrome last summer.
“Every time I’d run, my calf would hurt so bad,” Burke said. “My toes would go numb. I knew that something wasn’t right.”
Burke was in so much pain that she couldn’t train.
“I definitely don’t give up easily, so for me to tap out of a fitness was very abnormal for me,” she said. “So I got a compartment syndrome test, which is a pretty brutal test.”
Lidocaine was injected into Burke’s calves. The test revealed alarmingly high levels of pressure in the muscles, which in severe cases can cut off blood flow and require amputation.
“I mentally prepared myself for the doctor to tell me I was medically disqualified from playing,” she said. “He told me that we’re really lucky that we caught it so early because if it would have gotten worse it can cause you to lose your legs. So I was really lucky that I got the test when I did.”
After successful surgery, Burke was cleared to play in January. She has multiple scars but is pain-free and impressing everyone with her play.
River Light goalkeeper Alyssa Gluting, a Fairfield junior who was part of Metea Valley’s 2022 state championship team, recalls playing against Burke in high school.
“She was a menace in high school,” Gluting said. “I remember every time we’d play Naperville Central, it would be like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to watch out for Ella Burke.’”
Gluting was thrilled to be playing with Burke instead.
“I found out with everyone else that she was out (for the team),” Gluting said. “I was so shocked because I had no idea.
“When I saw her playing, I was like, ‘This is how she always is.’ It was like she was never hurt. She set the tone for us.”
Burke was a catalyst during River Light’s 4-1 win over RKC Third Coast at Marmion on June 17. She locked down the left side and made dangerous overlap runs on the flanks.
“It was awesome,” Iwinski said. “We’re playing really quality competition, and she’s getting up and down the field.
“She shuts players down. We really like the way she closes space, doesn’t let her player turn, and I think that will translate really well into the DI game when she gets back in the fall.”
Burke has three years of eligibility remaining but has not decided if she will use all of them. She intends to apply for a physical therapy program.
“All the injuries have definitely inspired me to pursue a career in physical therapy,” Burke said. “I’ll see how that all works out.”
Playing for River Light has worked out well for Burke. Her parents and younger sister, Emerson, who led Naperville Central to the Class 3A state final in June, have attended her games.
“It’s been so awesome,” Burke said. “There were so many times throughout my recovery where I thought I would never be able to run or do anything.
“It’s truly such a blessing, and I’m so grateful to be able to play the sport I love again because I never thought I’d be able to.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
