Christine Latham

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Christine Latham

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| fullname = Christine Elizabeth Latham{{cite news |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90970697/ |title=2,100 to receive degrees at UNL commencement today |newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star |page=5B |date=May 7, 2005 |access-date=December 22, 2021}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|09|15|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Calgary, Alberta, Canada

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=8}}

| position = Forward

| collegeyears1 = 1999–2002

| college1 = Nebraska Cornhuskers

| collegecaps1 = 94

| collegegoals1 = 69

| clubs1 = San Diego Spirit

| years1 = 2003

| caps1 = 19

| goals1 = 6

| clubs2 = New Jersey Wildcats

| years2 = 2005

| caps2 = 4

| goals2 = 4

| clubs3 = Atlanta Silverbacks

| years3 = 2006–2008

| caps3 = 28

| goals3 = 22

| clubs4 = Boston Breakers

| years4 = 2009

| caps4 = 16

| goals4 = 2

| totalcaps =

| totalgoals =

| nationalteam1 = Canada

| nationalyears1 = 2000–2006

| nationalcaps1 = 49

| nationalgoals1 = 15

}}

Christine Elizabeth Latham (born 15 September 1981) is a Canadian former soccer player who played as a forward for the Boston Breakers of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) and the Canada national team.

Club career

=Early years and university=

Latham played eight years with the Calgary Celtics, a youth team coached by her father, Brian. She was recruited by, and eventually chose to attend, the University of Nebraska. While at the university, she played for the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's soccer team from 1999 to 2002. She was named a three-time NSCAA All-American and left as the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Nebraska women's program with 69 goals. She added a further 29 assists in her 4-year career.

=Transition to professional soccer=

Upon graduating from Nebraska, Latham joined San Diego Spirit of Women's United Soccer Association as a Discovery Player in February 2003. In her first year, she scored 6 goals en route to being named the 2003 WUSA Rookie of the Year. This proved to be her last year in the league as the WUSA suspended operations following the conclusion of the 2003 season.

Latham joined New Jersey Wildcats of the W-League in 2005, appearing in 4 games (296 minutes) while scoring 4 goals and assisting on 3 others.

The following season, Latham joined fellow Canadian internationals Sharolta Nonen and Melissa Tancredi at Atlanta Silverbacks. In her first year with the Silverbacks, Latham appeared in 6 games (495 minutes), scoring twice and adding an assist. 2007 saw the departure of Tancredi and Latham increased her production to compensate. She appeared in 9 games (677 minutes) and scored 7 goals with 2 further assists. 2008 saw Latham increase her production even further, appearing in 13 games (1081 minutes) and while getting 13 goals and 2 assists.

The new Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league took notice of her and Boston Breakers claimed her as a Post-Draft Discovery Player on 10 October 2008. She agreed to terms with the club on 9 January 2009 and played in the 2009 WPS season for Boston. She appeared in 16 games (8 starts, 654 total minutes) and scored twice with one assist. Her option for the 2010 WPS season was picked up by Boston on 28 September 2009.

International career

Latham's international debut came on 5 May 2000 against South Korea. With the Canada women's national soccer team, Latham appeared in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, scoring three goals in six games. She ended her international career with 15 goals in 49 appearances.

In August 2006 Latham and Charmaine Hooper refused to attend two exhibition games against China and fell into dispute with team coach Even Pellerud. Along with a third disgruntled player, Sharolta Nonen, they publicly called for Pellerud's removal. Alleging he had pressured them to break their club contracts in order to join Vancouver Whitecaps and had tried to fix the outcome of a USL W-League play-off by releasing certain national team players but not others.{{cite news |last1=Mallett |first1=Peter |title=Players call for inquiry into coach |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/players-call-for-inquiry-into-coach/article1108398/ |access-date=10 March 2019 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=21 October 2006}} Pellerud suspended the players and terminated their funding. In June 2007 an arbitrator ruled in favour of the coach. Hooper's replacement as captain Christine Sinclair strongly criticised the players' actions: "They let down their teammates and since then have done nothing to rectify it. I wouldn't want them as teammates."{{cite news |title=Arbitrator rules in Canadian soccer coach's favour |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/arbitrator-rules-in-canadian-soccer-coach-s-favour-1.666307 |access-date=10 March 2019 |publisher=CBC Sports |date=20 June 2007}}

Post-playing career

Latham served as a commentator for Fox Sports at the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship and as a studio analyst for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.{{cite web | url=http://www.foxsports.com/presspass/bios/on-air/christine-latham | title=Christine Latham | work=Fox Sports | access-date=9 June 2015}}

Personal life

Latham graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in May 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.{{cite web |url=https://huskers.com/honors/university-of-nebraska-athletic-hall-of-fame/christine-latham/11 |title=Christine Latham |work=Nebraska Cornhuskers |access-date=December 22, 2021}}

References

External links

{{FIFA player|198975}}
{{Canada Soccer|1823}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100510095408/http://www.christinelathamsoccer.com/ Official website]
[http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=3143 Nebraska player profile]
[http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=70527 Nebraska coaching profile]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030820210731/http://www.wusa.com/players_coaches/players/christine_latham/ Christine Latham] at Women's United Soccer Association

Category:1981 births

Category:Living people

Category:Soccer players from Calgary

Category:Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States

Category:Canadian expatriate women's soccer players

Category:Canadian women's soccer players

Category:Canada women's international soccer players

Category:2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players

Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers women's soccer players

Category:Women's United Soccer Association players

Category:San Diego Spirit players

Category:New Jersey Wildcats players