WICHITA – Kayden Latham confesses to being somewhat of a procrastinator, a trait that promised to keep him hopping in these final days leading up to graduation at Wichita East High School.
 
But when it comes to esports – the organized, competitive outlet for video game players – Latham is well ahead of most others.
 
One of the nation’s top high school-age players in the Nintendo fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Latham, who plays under the gamertag “Poppin”, has flourished not only for East’s varsity esports program, but in regional, national, and, as recently as the first week of May, international competitions.
 
“He’s on that route to being that kid who becomes an international champion,” said Ryan Williams, East’s esports director. “I’d say he’s easily in the top five in the nation for high schools. It’s kind of crazy that he’s here in Wichita.”
 
Latham, the CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week, has made a positive impact for the Blue Aces since transferring to East for his senior year. Already committed to Wichita State to compete for its esports program in the fall, Latham said he relocated from the Kansas City area in part to become ingrained in the community where he’ll attend college.
 
At East, Latham has been part of the choir, receiving a first division rating for his solo vocal performance at the KSHSAA State Music Festival’s Class 6A competition last month in Topeka. But honing his gaming talents with an established esports program that has fielded competitive teams in games like Valorant, Overwatch, League of Legends and Rocket League was also enticing.
 
“I really wanted the opportunity to do esports somewhere,” Latham said. “East was the place that gave me that opportunity.”
 
Students from schools across the state have participated in esports competitions in recent years. Wichita Public Schools offer esports at nine high schools, 16 middle schools and four alternative high schools, according to the USD 259 website.
 
Last month, the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s board of directors passed a proposal that allows for the establishment of a KSHSAA-sanctioned esports championship during the 2025-26 school year. Competition details have yet to be finalized.
 
While Latham will finish high school just ahead of KSHSAA’s esports implementation, he’ll leave a strong legacy at East.
 
Latham, who began playing Smash in middle school, won fall titles in the Sunflower Esports League and High School Esports League. In December, he captured Sunflower Showdown Class 6A and grand champion titles in a state-wide competition at Highland Community College.
 
“These are great to have,” said Latham, also HSEL’s Central Region champion. “It always shocks me a little at how few high schoolers there are at some of the competitions I go to. This school was really locked into it.”
 
Success in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate involves mastering movement techniques, recognizing your game character’s strengths and weaknesses, adapting to different stages and capitalizing on opponents’ habits. Latham’s abilities are on display in numerous videos on YouTube.
 
“A game like mine and a real sport are very different but also very similar,” Latham said. “A regular sport, you have your athleticism in some, you still have to know what people are going to do and call out how people are going to move. You have to have hand-eye coordination for some sports.
 
“In video games, you kind of have to have everything. At any one moment, you have to know what you’re doing, what your opponent is doing, how you’re thinking, they’re thinking, hand-eye coordination. You have to make people scared, you have to make people feel things.
 
“There are a lot of different factors, but a big one is experience and just how you’re playing. You never really know how good anyone is going to be. When you go into a professional tournament and you know you’re ranked higher than somebody, they still could be playing really good on that day. All it takes is one thing to change the whole course of a match.”
 
Latham’s extreme skill in his game of choice caused Williams to analyze how he could best accommodate the senior’s playing opportunities.
 
“Smash isn’t something we’ve really played seriously at East, and I had to change my perspective on the game with him being such a talented player,” Williams said. “When Kayden came around, you watch him play and you see that he’s really good. I kind of had to change my gears on that.
 
“It was like having that five-star player show up in the fall that requires you to make a decision. I had to make sure he had all his tournaments and played in as many leagues as he can.”
 
Latham competes outside of school as well, participating in local events held on Fridays at Wichita State. This school year, his competitive travels have taken him to Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Washington, D.C.
 
But Latham’s trip of a lifetime to this point came two weeks ago when he flew to Tokyo to compete in Kagaribi 13, a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament series that began during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This year’s event attracted more than 2,500 competitors from around the world.
 
Latham’s six-day trip involved two days of competition and the remainder exploring a culture that has fascinated him.
 
“It’s the biggest thing I’ve done in general,” Latham said. “Travel-wise, gaming-wise, it was a blast.
 
“The game I play is probably one of the most diverse games around. Japan has just been a dream of mine growing up. I saved up for it because I heard it was something huge.”
 
Back home, Latham’s involvement with East’s esports has extended beyond competition. Williams said Latham took on a mentoring role that made the Aces better.
 
“He’s definitely impacted East in a great way,” said Williams, who oversaw 20-25 full-time players this spring. “He drives me crazy sometimes because he’s just so passionate about it. He can coach kids who are on different skill levels. He stays positive with them and has fun with them.
 
“He’s an ambassador for esports. He knows how to lock in, and he can teach kids how to practice and gives them real-time, constructive feedback. If he had moved here when he was a sophomore, I would have put him on staff and taken him everywhere I go.”