Katie graduated from Trinity High School (1998) in River Forest, IL. While at Trinity she broke school records, named all conference three of her four years in Girls Catholic Athletic Conference. She was named Pitcher of the Year in her senior year and Pitcher of the Week in the Chicago Sun Times.
During her college career she was named All Conference and All Conference Tournament each year while at Robert Morris University (2000-2002). While in college, she was invited to represent USA in Lyon, France to play in the European Cup (2000). Her team finished third coming off the loss from Australia who took home the championship. At RMU, she was a part of the first team to win for the University. She was well recognized in CCAC conference as a dominating pitcher within strike outs, innings pitched, and top three ERA for both years. In 2013, RMU entered Katie as the first ever softball player in Robert Morris Hall of Fame.
In summer ball, Katie was an original member of the Lemont Rockers. The Rockers organization was one of the elite travel teams in Illinois. Each year the team traveled to Nationals in Illinois, Ohio, Texas, and Florida. Along with receiving several all tourney notoriety, Katie was nominated for ASA All Conference and All Tourney (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004). She also led her team to top 10 finishes. After 18U she joined Illinois women's major team, Elite Force from Palos Heights, IL. While with the Force, Katie led her team to the 2003 Canadian Cup. This tournament had National teams from USA, Australia, Canada, and China. Elite Force was one of two non-national teams invited to compete.
Throughout her career Katie felt a passion to teach a sport she loved. She would give private lessons and camps to players looking to enhance their pitching career. Katie decided to coach younger athletes all the way to the collegiate level. She coached within many different Chicagoland schools such as: Trinity High School (2000-2002), Immaculate Heart of Mary (2002-2004), Lemont Rockers (2003-2004), LT Blazers (2007-2012), Robert Morris University (2017-2019), Wildcats (2016-2020) and Oakton Community College (2019-present). Through her knowledge of the game, Katie has opened her own organization called McFadden Sports Performance in West Chicago, IL. A training facility to improve and train the entire athlete. Katie has also coached her two sons in basketball and baseball within park district and travel programs.
