(Photo by Katharine Alden) caption: SISTER ACT: Princeton University freshman Anna Lutz, right and younger sister, Olivia, a fifth grader at Johnson Park School, take a break during a recent practice for their Dillon Youth Basketball League team. The older Lutz played in the league when she was in grade school and is now coaching Olivia on the Mason, Griffin & Pierson team in Dillon’s 4th/5th grade girls’ division.

Coming Full Circle in Dillon League, PU Frosh Lutz Now Coaching Sister

Bill Alden

Anna Lutz gained some valuable lessons during her years playing in the Dillon Youth Basketball League.

“I have great memories of the Dillon League; I played all the way through middle school,” said Lutz, who debuted in the 1988-99 season as a fourth grader in the league where the coaches are all Princeton University students.

“I had great coaches and I got the idea that I would like to coach in Dillon someday. The coaches emphasized having fun but I also learned a lot about basketball.”

Lutz, a Princeton resident, went on the Lawrenceville School, where she ran track for the Big Red and also competed in horseback riding outside school.

This past spring, Lutz was accepted to Princeton and realized that she would have the opportunity to achieve her goal of coaching in the Dillon league.

And Lutz had an extra incentive to get involved in the league as her younger sister, Olivia, now a fifth-grader at the Johnson Park School, was entering her second year in the program.

“I went to the organizational meeting for the Dillon coaches and I told Olivia afterward,” recalled Lutz. “She was so excited.”

Lutz followed through and she has been coaching the Mason, Griffin & Pierson team whose roster includes her younger sister.

For Lutz, coming full circle in the Dillon League has been a rewarding experience.

“It’s so nice, said Lutz, referring to coaching her younger sis. “It’s such a treat to coach my sister.”

Seeing her sister twice a week has helped Lutz strengthen her family ties even as she is immersed in life at the University.

“I’m at college now so I don’t get home much so it’s so nice to see Olivia,” said Lutz, whose co-coach is Ellen Clarke, another Dillon alum. “I look forward to practice; it’s so different from what I do from day to day.”

Lutz is also getting some aid from the male members of her family in guiding her squad.

“My brother, Cole, and my dad have given me some plays and I’m teaching them to the girls,” said Lutz with a smile.

“You have to have a plan for practice or they get a little restless. I do try to do drills to work with technical stuff but the priority is having fun.”

Lutz is apparently achieving that goal based on her sister’s assessment of her coaching approach.

“She’s not strict but she is a good coach,” said the younger Lutz, who scored four points last Saturday to help Mason, Griffin & Pierson edge Princeton Dental Group 12-11 as the team improved to 3-2.

“She talks to me; if I don’t do a good job she tells me what to work on. It’s the most fun season I’ve ever had; it’s so cool.”

It looks like another Lutz is well on her way to having a memorable Dillon experience.

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