NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State softball head coach Melinda Fischer announced on Monday the promotion of Mike Armitage to the program's full-time assistant coaching position, after serving as a volunteer assistant during the 2019 season.
"We are excited to promote Mike from a volunteer role to a full-time assistant position," Fischer said. "Through the 2018-19 season, Mike brought a lot of great things to our program, tremendous passion and energy, and I am looking forward to continue working with him. His wealth of knowledge and expertise in all areas of the game, both in his playing and coaching experiences, and especially with USA Softball, will be very beneficial to our program moving forward."
Armitage brings a plethora of experience to the Redbird softball program, both as a coach and a player. He just finished his third season serving as an assistant softball coach for the U.S. Junior Men's 19U National Team, and was a participant with the International Softball Congress, as well as the NAFA and ASA, for nearly 20 years.
Armitage recently resigned from Lexington Unit School District #7, where he was a full-time physical education and health teacher. Prior to the start of ISU's 2019 season, he stepped down from his head coaching position with the girls' softball team, where he led the program for three seasons, to join Fischer and her staff at Illinois State as a volunteer assistant.
"I would like to thank Melinda Fischer for my promotion to a full-time coaching position with the Redbird softball program," Armitage shared. "I feel honored to be able to invest in my education and passion for softball at an institution like Illinois State, which has enjoyed so much success over the years. I enjoyed my first season with ISU, and look forward to continue working with our high-level coaches and student-athletes."
As a coach, Armitage has assisted or served as the head coach on teams with multiple conference, regional and sectional championships at the high school level in softball, baseball and basketball. He has also coached high school all-star teams in both softball and basketball.
He has several accolades as a player, including participating on multiple NAFA All-World teams. He is an ASA major First-Team All-American, and has played on teams that have finished in the top-10 of the ISC World Tournament multiple times. Armitage was also a vital member of a team that placed second in the ASA major.
Armitage earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from UW-Platteville in 2008, before finishing his master's degree in kinesiology and recreation from Illinois State in 2018.
He is married to the former Katie Newman, who was a pitcher for Fischer and the Redbirds from 2001-02. The couple have two children, Ella and AJ.
Armitage replaces Tara Archibald, who recently departed ISU to fill the head coaching vacancy at Eastern Illinois.
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