Kat McKay begins her third season in 2025 as the sixth head coach of the Bobcat softball program.
McKay joined Bates as an assistant coach in the spring of 2022 after spending five years (four seasons) as the head coach of the University of Maine-Farmington's softball team.
"This is a dream," McKay said. "I grew up 20 minutes down the road so I know Bates softball. You can't grow up in this area without knowing Bates. I never thought I would have the opportunity to do what I love in my own backyard at such a great school. I am most excited about the team and the amazing amount of potential here. I look forward to building upon what has already been built and I couldn't be more excited about it."
In 2017, her first year leading the UMF softball program, McKay helped the Beavers increase their win total by four games from the year before. UMF continued to improve during her time at the helm of the program, posting a 6-6 conference record in 2019, one of the team's best marks of the past decade. The 2020 season got wiped out due to the pandemic but after a slow start to 2021, the Beavers ended their campaign on a six-game winning streak.
During McKay's time in Farmington, she coached seven All-NAC selections and won 41 games.
Before McKay took the helm for the UMF Beaver softball program, she coached at the high school level for more than ten years. McKay spent four of those years building a program as head softball coach at Poland Regional High School. Prior to that, she coached at St. Dominic Academy as the head coach for two years and JV coach for three. During the off-season, McKay played other roles such as JV soccer coach, ninth grade basketball coach, JV basketball coach, and varsity assistant for basketball. She also spent a few seasons coaching at the middle school level in baseball and soccer.
McKay is a 2006 graduate of Central Maine Community College where she played basketball and softball. She graduated Phi Theta Kappa with an Associates of Applied Science Degree in Sports Management. In 2014, McKay returned to school attending the University of Southern Maine to complete her four-year degree. She enrolled as a full-time student while managing a family with two young boys, working full time as an assistant athletic director as well as transportation director at Saint Dominic Academy, and starting for the USM softball team at first base. McKay graduated from USM with a bachelor's degree in Leadership and Organizational Studies.
