After graduating in 1997 from Purdue University on a full athletic scholarship Mathieu played professional basketball in Europe and was a member of the Dutch national team. Following a career ending injury, he earned his coaching certification and became a head coach in the Dutch national woman’s league. After a few seasons he decided to dedicate his time and effort to youth development. He became an athletic motor skills specialist (ASM) and talent coach for the Centre of Sports and Education (CSE) in Zwolle. He works for the Dutch national basketball federation (NBB) as a youth coach educator and is a Clubkadercoach (CKC) to assist coaches in their pedagogical and didactical skill development.
Playing for transactional and transformational coaches helped shape Mathieu into the person he is today. His foundational purpose statement is ‘To develop student-athletes in their pursuit of excellence in sports and life through training, equipping and empowering’. Because of his intrinsic motivation to coach for a greater purpose, Mathieu advices school districts, Sports associations and clubs to adopt the 3D framework as their ‘operating system’ to create a transformational culture. He is a follower of Christ and is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Mathieu lives with his wife Olga, along with three sons and two daughters in Twente.