Mike White is a New Zealand-born American

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

coach who is the current head coach at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Early life

A native of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's capital of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, White grew up playing multiple sports, most notably

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and softball. In a 2023 interview, White told

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

writer Dave Wilson that he had hopes of making the national soccer team, but a planned training trip to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

was scuttled due to civil unrest in Fiji. He had been a star pitcher in New Zealand, a hotbed for men's fast-pitch softball, and around the time his soccer trip was canceled, he received a call from the U.S. inviting him to play softball there. At the time, men's fast-pitch had a noticeably higher profile in the U.S. than it does today. White then spent the next decade-plus playing for various fast-pitch teams while running a resale shop in Iowa. In that day, many New Zealand men's softball players were recruited by American fast-pitch teams, typically spending a season or two in one place before moving to teams that offered more money. By contrast, White spent most of his U.S. playing career in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

, attending and graduating from the local

Mount Mercy University Mount Mercy University is a private Catholic liberal arts university in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1928. Students take a core of liberal arts courses as a foundation for areas of study including English, fine arts, ...

and marrying a local woman. He became a U.S. citizen in 1994. In softball, White won 70 games in world championship tournaments between 1990 and 2006, more than any other men's pitcher in that period. He pitched for 11 teams that won championships in the American Softball Association or International Softball Congress, and was named MVP of one of those organizations' tournaments five times.

Coaching career

In 1997, White met

Ralph Weekly Ralph Weekly is an American softball coach who, along with his wife Karen, was the co-head coach at Tennessee from 2002 until his retirement in 2021. Early life and education Weekly graduated from Arizona State University in 1973. He earned his ...

, then the director of national teams for

USA Softball USA Softball (formerly the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and ASA/USA Softball) is the governing body for the United States national softball team. It is a member of the sport's international governing body, the World Baseball Softball Conf ...

. White expressed a wish to enter coaching, and Weekly was impressed by White's leadership potential. Weekly then spread the word about White's availability to the women's college softball community, and White would be hired by

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

as a pitching coach in 2003. He left Oregon after two seasons, believing that being an assistant coach was not his best fit. White would spend the next several years helping to raise his three daughters, coaching their youth teams, and doing private instruction.

Oregon

White returned to Oregon after a five-year absence when he was announced as the Ducks' new head coach on June 30, 2009. In the 2010 season, White led Oregon to their first-ever Super Regional bid by beating the eight seeded Georgia Tech. In 2012, Oregon reached their second-ever Women's College World Series, where they finished 5th among eight teams. In 2013, Mike White led Oregon to their first-ever Pac-12 Conference title. In 2014, Oregon had their best ever season finishing with a program-best 56 wins and advanced to the Women's College World Series. During the 2014 season, Oregon acquired their first ever number 1 ranking and swept rival Washington for the first time. In 2015, Oregon sported a program-best 21 Pac-12 Conference wins in a season, as well as, making the Women's College World Series for the third time in four years. In 2016, Oregon won their 4th straight Pac-12 Conference title. In 2017, Oregon made the Women's College World Series and made it to the semis of WCWS. In 2018, Oregon won their 5th Pac-12 Title, and made the Women's College World Series for the 5th time, as well as, reached 50 wins for the 5th time in program history. After the 2018 season, it was announced that Mike White would accept the softball head coaching job at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Longtime Oklahoma softball assistant coach

Melyssa Lombardi Melyssa Lombardi is an American softball coach who is the current head coach at Oregon Ducks softball, Oregon. Early life and education Lombardi graduated from University of Oklahoma in 1997 with a degree in Health and Sports Science. Coaching ...

would replace White as Oregon Head Softball Coach.

Texas

On June 25, 2018, Texas hired Mike White as head coach of the Texas softball program to replace

Connie Clark Connie Sue Clark (born December 20, 1965) is an American, former collegiate All-American right-handed softball pitcher and head coach. Clark began her college softball career at the junior college level before finishing her last two years wit ...

who was the program's only head coach.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Mike Living people American softball coaches Central Arizona Vaqueros baseball players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Oregon Ducks softball coaches Texas Longhorns softball coaches New Zealand softball players New Zealand emigrants to the United States American softball players Mount Mercy University alumni 1967 births