Matt Deemer ’18 didn’t always know he wanted to be a coach, but when he wasn’t getting his desired playing time on the Chapman men’s soccer team, he decided to channel his efforts into what he could contribute from the sidelines. It was at this point that he fell in love with coaching.

Deemer, as his friends fondly call him, joined the Chapman men’s soccer team in the Fall of 2014. He embraced his role of back-up goalkeeper, channeling his efforts into coaching and bringing the team morale up during practice and games. In May 2015, Deemer decided to pursue coaching, securing an Assistant Coach position at the LA Galaxy San Diego club team. From there, his journey took him all over Southern California. It became how he could perfect the art of coaching.

“There is so much to coaching so it has been a long process and I feel like I have come a long way but still have a very long way to go. I love the idea of helping shape so many people in so many more ways than just soccer, coaching them to be better soccer players is the least I can do.”

Deemer’s coaching resume while still in college is impressive – he coached at the LA Galaxy San Diego club team for two years, he was the JV Head Coach at Villa Park High School for those same two years, he took on the Head Coach job for the women’s club soccer team here at Chapman, he took on an assistant coaching position for another club team in San Diego, and he was the Head Coach for the Varsity Boy’s Villa Park soccer team his senior year. Did I mention this is all while he is pursuing his degree in Integrated Educational Studies?

Besides being an impressive time manager while at Chapman, Deemer was also an extremely impressive coach. As the Head Coach for the Varsity team at Villa Park, he took the team to the CIF and State Finals, leading the squad to a 15-6-6 record. He won the prestigious honor of CIF Coach of the Year in just his first year as a Head Coach and is the only person in CIF history to win Player of the Year (he earned this in 2014 as a goalkeeper at Carlsbad High School) and Coach of the Year in a span of just four years. Impressive, right?

What’s even more impressive is his post-college resume. After graduating, Deemer moved back down to his hometown San Diego to help coach Parceiro, a Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) team. When that season ended, he joined the coaching staff at Division I San Diego State University for two seasons. In the summer of 2020, Deemer was offered the position of Head of Recruiting and assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at the University of St. Katherine’s, an NAIA program. After three successful years in collegiate coaching, he will be heading to the University of San Diego (Division I) in June 2021 to be an assistant coach.

Deemer thanks his time as a Chapman student-athlete for helping him on his coaching journey. “Chapman really helped me understand the connection between player and coach and how much that can help a team,” he said. “I am so thankful for my four years and the connections I made on and off the field to get me where I am today. Coaching at the college level now, I feel very confident in many of the decisions I make because I have seen what it takes at that level to succeed.”

Succeed, indeed. We can’t wait to watch where Deemer’s coaching journey takes him next.