Austin (KXAN) – A native of Wellington, New Zealand, Texas softball head coach Mike White was very active growing up.
“When I was in high school, I played just about everything,” said White. “We just had a hand in everything. New Zealanders take the outlook that we want to be more of a participant than a fan.”
Now, he’s one the most successful softball coaches in the country, but soccer was his first love. White was a strong right back on the pitch for his home country.
“I had a nickname of ‘MeatAxe’,” said White. “Basically you never got past me twice and I made it hard on people.”
White came to the United States at age 18 to play semi-professional softball. His first stop was over 8,000 miles from home in Saginaw, Michigan where he also worked at an ice cream shop.
“I don’t think people could understand me,” White said about his accent working in Saginaw. “I didn’t last too long at that job.”
His playing career took him a number of other places like California, Fort Worth and Wisconsin where he had jobs in insurance, retail and construction to name a few.
While in Iowa, White played collegiate golf and worked toward his degree going to Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy College. The versatile athlete still does play golf often, including with other Texas coaches Edrick Floréal and Vic Schaefer.
“You bet,” said White with a smile when asked if the matches with Floréal and Schaefer get competitive. “We don’t care about the money it’s just about who gets to win. Who gets to pay the other person.”
A long journey to get to Austin, the many jobs White has worked has helped give him perspective on leading the Longhorns program.
“Five percent of the people are going to have a lot of noise to make,” said White about working in retail. “I get the same issue here with coaching. It’s five percent that don’t like what I can do. They make a lot of noise. They don’t understand me. They don’t know who I am.”
White has been with the Longhorns for five seasons and has led them to consistent success including a Women’s College World Series Championship runner-up finish in 2022.
Austin (KXAN) – A native of Wellington, New Zealand, Texas softball head coach Mike White was very active growing up.
“When I was in high school, I played just about everything,” said White. “We just had a hand in everything. New Zealanders take the outlook that we want to be more of a participant than a fan.”
Now, he’s one the most successful softball coaches in the country, but soccer was his first love. White was a strong right back on the pitch for his home country.
“I had a nickname of ‘MeatAxe’,” said White. “Basically you never got past me twice and I made it hard on people.”
White came to the United States at age 18 to play semi-professional softball. His first stop was over 8,000 miles from home in Saginaw, Michigan where he also worked at an ice cream shop.
“I don’t think people could understand me,” White said about his accent working in Saginaw. “I didn’t last too long at that job.”
His playing career took him a number of other places like California, Fort Worth and Wisconsin where he had jobs in insurance, retail and construction to name a few.
While in Iowa, White played collegiate golf and worked toward his degree going to Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy College. The versatile athlete still does play golf often, including with other Texas coaches Edrick Floréal and Vic Schaefer.
“You bet,” said White with a smile when asked if the matches with Floréal and Schaefer get competitive. “We don’t care about the money it’s just about who gets to win. Who gets to pay the other person.”
A long journey to get to Austin, the many jobs White has worked has helped give him perspective on leading the Longhorns program.
“Five percent of the people are going to have a lot of noise to make,” said White about working in retail. “I get the same issue here with coaching. It’s five percent that don’t like what I can do. They make a lot of noise. They don’t understand me. They don’t know who I am.”
White has been with the Longhorns for five seasons and has led them to consistent success including a Women’s College World Series Championship runner-up finish in 2022.