New data platform uses QR code to help recruits

A Fayetteville inventor is marketing a new online data platform designed for student-athletes.

Wayne Woolsey is the co-founder of QR Recruiter. Woolsey intends for the data platform to speed up exchanging information between a player and a recruiter or scout.

A QR code is a two-dimensional barcode that smartphone cameras can scan. The technology has been around for years, but it has gained renewed popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic for its timely application to contactless ordering and payment.

In the QR Recruiter configuration, scanning a code would take the recruiter or scout to a website where athletes have shared their academic and sports-specific statistics through their player profiles, whether it’s baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, football or volleyball.

Woolsey, a father of three boys whom he has coached in baseball, has a passion for helping athletes navigate athletic careers past high school without the sizable investment most families typically make.

“Our focus is truly on the kids,” he said. “We want them, no matter their socioeconomic level, to have a chance to be searched and found by college and professional scouts, and we will scholarship any student-athlete who needs financial assistance.”

Athletes can pay a fee for a wearable QR code at showcase events. Coaches can use QR Recruiter to offer one code that provides access to an entire team roster and their statistics. A team’s QR roster banner could also have sponsor advertising added for a fundraising element.

Woolsey said QR Recruiter is the only detailed search currently on the market that is free for recruiters and scouts to use. He said the platform could appeal to athletes and teams both in high school or college sports and club or travel squads.

There’s more information at qrrecruiter.com.