Kathy Leitke Softball Staff

The University of Notre Dame softball program announced the addition of former Western Michigan head coach Kathy Leitke as the team’s analytics fellow. Leitke joins the Irish staff after serving as Western Michigan’s head coach for 22 seasons, and owns 31 years of coaching experience. She finished her head coaching career with 790 wins, serving as the head coach at Lake Michigan College prior to joining WMU. 

At the conclusion of her time in Kalamazoo, Leitke earned 478 wins at Western, and was the longest tenured and winningest coach in Western Michigan softball history. She led the Broncos to two Mid-American Tournament Championships. She was a two-time Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, winning the awards in 2006 and 2011. 

While at Lake Michigan, she earned NFCA Coach of the Year, and NJCAA Coach of the Year honors, and was named regional Coach of the Year five times, League Coach of the Year four times and NFCA East Region Coach of the Year three times. 

Leitke oversaw a total of 60 All-MAC honorees, including 29 first team selections. The Broncos also had a multitude of academic awards, earning 135 National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Scholar Athlete honors, three earn NFCA Academic All-District and an Academic All-American.  Her program also saw 48 Academic All-MAC selections during her tenure.