Lower Township Recreation Advisory Board Recognizes Kaitlyn Loftus

VILLAS – The Lower Township Recreation Advisory Board recently honored Kaitlyn Loftus as volunteer of the month for her dedication to the recreation basketball programs.
Loftus, 26, of Lower Township was working at a daycare when Mitchell Plenn, the superintendent of the department of parks and recreation, told her about the need for coaches for the township’s basketball program.
Basketball had always been an important part of Loftus’ life and she was excited to be able share the love of the sport with kids that are just getting started. She played basketball throughout her time at Lower Cape May Regional High School and at Stockton College of new Jersey.
“It was a lot of fun because I got to relate to the kids through a sport that I love,” she said.
Her first year volunteering she coached third and fourth graders and then fifth and eighth grade. However this year, she worked with her youngest group yet, a team of kindergarteners and first graders.
“They were wonderful,” Loftus said of her team. “And at that age, when some kids are holding a basketball for the first time, I just try and make it fun for them. Even asking them if they dribble a basketball with their hands or their feet, at that age, it gets a laugh.”
No stranger to volunteerism, Loftus had previously been involved in local beach cleanups and working with her college basketball team at animal shelters and the Special Olympics. Recently, she’s volunteered her time at the annual high school basketball tournament held at the Wildwoods Convention Center.
With an associate’s degree in elementary education and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Loftus works as a kindergarten aide at David C. Douglass Veterans Memorial School. During the summer she works two jobs as a waitress. But the winter months are filled with basketball practices and games.
One of her proudest moments as a coach came when one of her kindergarteners had tried unsuccessfully to make a basket all season, however at the final game he was able to make a basket.
“The smile on his face was so big and the excitement was contagious,” Loftus said. “It was such a great way to end the season and such a great moment.”
She suggested that anyone interested in volunteering give the recreation department a call.
The Lower Township Recreation Center is located behind Lower Township Hall in the municipal complex at 2600 Bayshore Road. For more information call 609-886-7880 ext. 0 or visit the township’s website at townshipoflower.org.