Aurora was once home to the Aurora Islanders/Blues/Foxes, a minor league baseball franchise that played from 1910-1915 in the Illinois-Wisconsin League. Their most famous player was Casey Stengel, who played one season with the team before being bought by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Stengel Batted .352 and was the batting champion of the league for 1911, and also led the league with 50 stolen bases and had 27 outfield assists. The team played in a stadium on the west side in the former riverview park.
 Soccer of truly world-class caliber is played in Aurora. Waubonsie Valley High School (IPSD - District 204) has won the Northern Illinois regional championship, in this highly competitive region, for both boys and girls, almost every year since 1987. In 2007, the Waubonsie Valley High School girls team won the state championship and went on to achieve the #1 ranking of all high school girl's soccer teams in the United States, finishing with an undefeated season. Aurora is the home of numerous youth travelling soccer clubs, most of which have teams represented in the top five percent of the Northern Illinois Soccer League which serves a population of over 8 million residents. Several of these teams are or have been nationally ranked in the top ten. Numerous youth soccer players from Aurora have been awarded college scholarships to, and are starting players for, major college soccer programs throughout the U.S. In addition to this legacy of success in soccer, Aurora maintains numerous developmental advantages for soccer enthusiasts. Three high quality indoor soccer venues allow for year-round soccer training and competition for children and adults alike. Additionally, several area travelling soccer clubs, as well as high schools, boast coaches and/or trainers who have played soccer professionally and/or who have been starting players for national teams from various countries, some of whom played for teams that won the World Cup. Supplementing the local soccer training regimen are professional soccer trainers from England, Brazil, Holland, Scotland, and numerous other countries. Several of these trainers played in the English Premier League, for the Brazil National Team, and for the Argentine National Team.
 Fastpitch softball has been in Aurora since World War II and gained popularity in 1950 when the Aurora Sealmasters finished fifth in the nation. The Sealmasters went on to win National Championships in 1959, 1961, 1965 and 1967 and World Championships in 1966 and 1968. There were many different and competitive mens leagues in Aurora from the 1960's through the mid 1990's. There are still a few leagues and teams playing to this day.
 Stonebridge Country Club, on Auroras far northeast side was home to the LPGA Keebler-Kellogg classic from 2002-2004. Stonebridge was also a course in the 1991-1995 Men's Senior PGA tour.
 Aurora University has Men's and Women's Basketball, Golf, Tennis, Track and Field and Cross Country. It also has a men's football and baseball team, as well as women's softball and volleyball teams. Aurora University athletics are division III.
 High school athletics are a major event in the city, as East and West Aurora High Schools have been rivals in all sports for over 100 years.