Your Story Matters Here: Matt Diesel

Given his last name, you’d expect him to have an engine that runs at high speed.  And Matt Diesel does.

As owner and chief executive officer of Diesel Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Matt regularly logs up to 60-hour work weeks, with duties that run from coaching youth athletes to managing as many as 25 employees to dealing with construction contractors.  He’s an active participant in several Christian ministries, including the men’s group at Dutilh.  And along with his wife, Sally, he’s busy raising three kids (Mia, age 14; Tucker, 6; and Milo, 4).

With all those moving parts, how does he keep that engine running at a high-performance level?

“Time management,” he says. “We’re juggling a lot, especially as our kids get older.  You really have to keep your priorities in line.”

For Matt, 38, faith provides the fuel on which his family and his business runs, and he no longer draws a line between the two.

“For many years, I wouldn’t talk about my faith at work, but kept it hidden,” he says. “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past year, it’s that people come into my life for a reason. I don’t believe in coincidence. The more I see where God puts people into your life, I realize you can’t do anything without Him. It’s clear to me the opportunity we have to impact the people we work with, as well as the kids we coach.”

Through myriad methods and means, Diesel Sports aims to impact the lives of thousands of youth athletes who play baseball, softball, football, soccer or lacrosse.  

With its 10,000 square-foot indoor facility and 100-yard outdoor turf field, the company wants to be a one-stop shop by offering skills development, strength and conditioning, and video and biomechanics technology. Other capabilities include sports medicine through Dale Reckless of MRS Physical Therapy, another Dutilh member; and nutrition instruction led by Sally, who’s also a personal trainer at F45 Training.

“Our mission is to use sports to help develop, grow and impact young men and women,” Matt says. “I didn’t get this kind of complete training and guidance early enough in my youth, and it’s a passion of mine to make sure that kids today don’t miss it. We want kids to understand that there’s more to the game than just on the field. We believe a better athlete off the field is a much better athlete on the field.”

That belief comes from Matt’s years of experience. 

After graduating from Hampton High School in 2004, he enrolled at Duquesne University and planned to play baseball.  In his first year, however, he had two surgeries; while recovering, he helped coach at Hampton and enjoyed the experience.  He played the next three years at Duquesne, then decided to focus on coaching and instructing his senior year, graduating in 2008 with a degree in sports marketing.

“By the time I finished school, I had more passion for coaching than playing,” he says. “Someone once told me coaches have the opportunity to impact more people in one year than most do in an entire lifetime.”  

So at 23, he started his own company, Steel City Select, a baseball and softball organization designed to train and develop players to be successful on and off the field. Two years ago, Matt rebranded the company as Diesel Sports Complex when he acquired and developed its current, multi-purpose site.

As the company has grown, and especially during its expansion project the past two years, Matt has adapted from full-time coach and trainer to all aspects of running and leading a business.  It’s been a challenging, yet rewarding, transition.

“For my first 15 years, I was a full-time owner-operator, both running the business and leading the vision,” he says.  “Now I’ve shifted to running and managing the business, and developing the leaders in each area of the company to handle their day-to-day responsibilities.  I’ve learned that as you develop leaders, you’re also growing the vision more of where we’re trying to take the company.”

That vision includes leadership development for the athletes, too.  As part of his participation in the local chapter of Truth At Work, a networking ministry for Christian business leaders, Matt hosts a Saturday morning group for teen athletes. 

“Those meetings are not as much sports-related as they are about developing a leadership mindset,” he says. “They’ve turned into some of the best sessions ever as far as helping the kids. We find there are so many things kids are dealing with, struggling with life and stuff, so we’re trying to build trust and relationships, helping them to build an identity outside of sports. When you’re playing the game at a high level, it can end up becoming who you are when you’re not on the field. A lot of athletes and coaches go that way, and that’s not what you want to do.

“At these sessions, we have the ability to pray before and after, and I had never done that in the workplace before. To watch this group of kids show up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday, to hear the issues they’re dealing with, then to provide some advice, to watch them lead prayers – it’s been very rewarding.”

Over the years, Matt has participated in several rewarding ministries at Dutilh, including a Saturday morning leadership group with Pastor Tom, the Father-Daughter Dance, small men’s groups on Sunday mornings, and young adult groups.

“We love the excitement the contemporary church service brings,” he says. “The people and the pastors have always been amazing at Dutilh.”

The family’s three kids have attended Dutilh’s preschool, a connection that spurred Matt to create a fundraiser to support the preschool’s annual Hop for Hope. For the past several years, the preschoolers have “hopped” to raise money to benefit the Home of Hope orphanage in Nyadire, Zimbabwe, in conjunction with The Nyadire Connection. This year, Matt decided to host a skills clinic and donate the proceeds to the orphanage.

“We’re glad we can help,” he says. “The mother of one of our athletes said they were already sponsors for kids at the Home of Hope, and she said it was great to see two of her worlds colliding to help out.”

 For Matt Diesel, it’s just another high-energy way to make an impact.