Coach Matthew Latham Bio
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Coach Latham has been involved in coaching water polo since the mid-2000s where he started as the boys JV coach at Okemos High School. In 2007, Coach Latham joined the Spartan Water Polo Coaching staff helping with the development of each age group. He has coached 18u, 16u, and 14u out at the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics. In 2013, he helped lead the 14u girls to the clubs first ever medal at the junior olympic tournament when the team placed 3rd in the Gold Division earning a bronze medal. In 2011, Coach Latham was promoted to the Boys Head Coaching position at Okemos High School where he led the team to its first district title (2011), first regional finals appearance (2012), and first state appearance since 2009. The following winter, he was named the head coach of the girls program and led the Chieftains to a district title, regional title, and state runner-up finish.
In 2014, Coach Latham led the Lady Chieftains to the state championship the 3rd in program history. In addition, Coach Latham was named the head coach of the Michigan State University Men's Club Team and led the Spartans to their first Big Ten championship since 2010 and a top 10 finish nationally at the CWPA National Championships. In 2019, the men's team returned to the national championship as Big 10 champions and placed 5th, the program's first top 5 finish since 2010. After covid cancelled the 2020 season, Coach Latham led the Michigan State Men's program to its 4th national title in program history as they knocked off UC San Diego to win the 2021 championship. This season marked back to back Big Ten championships as well. In 2018 he was named the head coach of the Michigan State University Women's Club Team. In 2019 he led the Spartan women to their first Big 10 title since 2008. He has been named the Big 10 coach of the year four times (men's 2014, 2018, 2019 and women's 2019) and won 3 Big 10 championships (men's 2014 & 2019, women's - 2019).
For the past seven years, he has been heavily involved in the USAWP Olympic Development Program as an assistant coach in the Midwest Zone (2012-2014) and most recently as the Great Lakes Zone Youth Head Coach (2014-2017) and the GLZ ODP Boys Head Coach (2017-Present). He currently is serving as the Vice Chair of USAWP's Midwest Zone, works as a CPA in Lansing, and enjoys cheering of the Spartans, Red Wings, Tigers, and Lions.