The Recruit-Me Story

Meet the founders, Jon Fugler and Ron Johnston

Recruit-Me was born so that the average family would have a shot at a scholarship for their talented high school athlete. 

Jon Fugler and Ron Johnston could see that most families were confused about the whole process and didn't have a lot of money to spend in pursuing a scholarship.

So, since 2001, drawing on their own expertise, they've been helping families achieve their athletic scholarship dreams economically and successfully - without spending thousands of dollars on a consultant or recruiting service.

Jon Fugler

"This speaker was good. Very good. By the time he was done, I was one of the first in line to buy his book. I received a call a few days later from a recruiting service he was associated with. My wife and I met with the service shortly after that, and we were on the edge of spending about $2,000 to get this "recruiting" process started.

"That's how I was drawn into my education in the athletic scholarship and recruiting world. Well, the beginning of my education at least. As it turned out, we ended up signing on with a different service and a consultant, and paid them several thousand dollars (we got a "twin discount').

"I felt it was a good and necessary investment then, and even to this day I still believe it was. But I would have decided differently if I'd had more choices. It was a lot to spend, and we really couldn't afford it. But I did not know much about this recruiting world. I was unsure of myself, and I knew I couldn't afford not to get athletic scholarships.

"As it turned out, both boys did end up getting fully paid educations. I now know we could have done it far less expensively (what an understatement!) if I'd known then what I know now.

Consultant and Experience Built My Expertise

"The entire recruiting process lasted about a year for us. In that time, as I worked through the recruitment of both sons, I became an 'expert,' compared to where I had begun. I had the help of our consultant and our service. In addition, I have a college coach friend who gave us solid input and made some key calls to other coaches. I was lucky to have so many advisors as we went through the process.

"And the whole thing was fascinating to me. It was a journey that had a very happy ending. Both sons received full-ride scholarships to play baseball at the Division I level. The return on our investment of time and money was fantastic!

"Although we had a good consultant, a service, and help from a college coach, we did most of the work ourselves. And that's where the greatest learning came in. You know how it is: you learn more when you do something than when you just read about it. And we did plenty (times two!).

"We created the initial contact packets. We made and received the phone calls. We made and mailed the videos. We responded to the coaches. We negotiated the scholarships. Indeed, we went through the trenches in this process. And we came out with a deep understanding of the whole athletic recruitment process.

"They liked what I sent them, and I was able to help a few people."

Meanwhile, as Jon was going through his experience...

(Ron): "... I was building several successful online businesses, not knowing at the time our pathswould cross. Then Jon approached me for help with an idea: figure out how to make our recruiting knowledge available to others all around the country.

Now, I'm a stickler for ease of use. Complexity is the enemy when you're designing tools for real people to use. This was etched permanently on my brain during my years as engineering director at Apple. To be really useful - and actually get used - tools have to be simple and understandable and leave no doubt about what to do next. A confused mind will not take action.

"Jon and I worked together to package our knowledge of athletic recruiting into an easy-to-follow system. We created a simple, step-by-step process, and an entire collection of tools, that walks student-athletes and their families through getting recruited -- from beginning to end. For each step, we made it crystal-clear what to do, how to do it, what it looks like to do it, and how the coaches will likely respond.  The Recruit-Me System born.

"It doesn't really take thousands of dollars to successfully go through the recruiting process. At least, it doesn't have to. Most parents don't have $2,000-5,000 extra when they're preparing for college costs. And here's the good news: you don't really need to spend this much! If you are properly guided to follow foundational steps, you can spend a fraction of that and get great results yourself. By the way, we've discovered that you're going to do a lot of the work even if you use a consultant.  

Recruit-Me: Available to anyone, anywhere 

"Our mission has always been to help student-athletes get scholarships without spending much money. That's why we have always priced the Recruit-Me tools so anyone could afford them. Since the first day, it has all been available online to anyone, anywhere."

You Can Do This Yourself

"Yes, you will have work to do, but you'll be doing most of that work anyway, even if you hire a consultant or service. And the Recruit-Me System takes you through the right work, so you don't fumble around and waste time and money. It shows you how to get recruited without paying thousands of dollars to a service or consultant.

"Understand, we don't want to criticize consultants or services, because both had a part in getting Jon's twin sons their fully paid educations while they played baseball at the Division 1 level. Their work and guidance paid off -- big time.

"But we do want to provide you with a more affordable alternative that gets the job done with our step-by-step help.  We have had fun developing this complete do-it-yourself Kit, and we look forward to helping your son or daughter get that scholarship you're looking for.

"The Recruit-Me System will always be easy to use, because we believe in that. And thousands of families have proven that it works!"