Three Oak Park lacrosse athletes selected for Under Armour commercial

According to sportswear company Under Armour’s 2016 global marketing campaign, “it’s what you do in the dark that puts you in the light.” Three Oak Park girls’ lacrosse athletes recently earned that spotlight — in an Under Armour commercial for Kohl’s.

The department store selected sophomore Kathleen Kaschalk, sophomore Madison Suwara and junior Yael Kaufman, who all play for the Rugged Royals Girls’ Lacrosse Club of the San Fernando Valley, after recruiting several local club teams — as well as the Los Angeles Aces — to audition.

“The auditions were not as intimidating as any of us thought. We all lined up as a team and would step forward individually and answer questions on the spot about lacrosse and our experiences,” Suwara said. “We all just did our thing and were ourselves, so it was super fun.”

The girls — after filming Monday, Feb. 6 and Thursday, Feb. 9 at a field in San Pedro — earned a $4,000 donation from Under Armour to their club team to cover tournament expenses in exchange for their participation in the commercial.

“The donation for the club makes my team so excited. It opens up new opportunities to bigger and better tournaments out of state,” Suwara said.

Kaschalk, Kaufman, and Suwara spent two full days filming the commercial.

“I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many takes we had to do to get the perfect shot. This was a bit frustrating, and all of us were getting tired of doing the same thing over and over. However, the whole crew was super nice, and a group of us from our team have bonded a lot with the people we met there,” Suwara said.

University of Maryland graduate and lacrosse player Alex Aust surprised the girls on set. They were all very excited to see such a well-respected lacrosse player in person.

“I never thought I would meet her and would never have expected her to come,” Suwara said. “She was so nice, and it was cool to be able to talk to her for the whole day.”

Rugged Royals’ head Coach Jason Saunders said that this was a unique moment for these players.

“It was a great opportunity. I think anytime players are able to meet an elite athlete doing what they are dedicating time to is a great inspiration,” Saunders said.

The commercial is for Kohl’s spring line of Under Armour girls’ lacrosse gear.

“I know all of us are so excited that we got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and are more than excited for how it turned out for us,” Kaschalk said. “It was something new and out of our element but, like I said, it was definitely memorable.”