Who We Are

Sons Glenn and Ryan are living testimonies of KDA as not only participants in their early schooling years, but the creation of the many programs KDA offers today. While they've worn many KDA hats over the years as mentors, broadcasters, and many more, their most important role is rooted in Jesus Christ. Their current calling is Men's Ministry at their local church to serve the community by empowering men in their faith and leadership. "It is evident that men are desperate for a relationship with their Savior and how to apply that to their lives and families. Ministry starts in the home and we need strong men and fathers to be servant leaders as Christ did for us."

Ryan Stoutt holds a unique place in the history of Keeping Dreams Alive Foundation℠. He is not only one of KDA's original young participants and the son of Glenn and the late Lisa Stoutt—Ryan's personal journey through the college recruiting process is the reason Playing the Recruiting Game and today's PTRG Academy℠ exist.

Ryan's connection to KDA began when he was still a child. Like his older brother Glenn, Ryan grew up surrounded by the Foundation's earliest work with young people. KDA President Pat Lowe took an interest in mentoring both brothers while they were young, giving Ryan an early experience with the relationships, guidance, accountability, and personal investment in young people that would become hallmarks of the KDA mission.

As Ryan grew older, football became a major part of his life. He developed into a quarterback with aspirations of playing college football, but his journey was complicated by significant academic and recruiting challenges. At one point, Ryan carried a 1.2 GPA—an obstacle that could have ended his opportunity before the recruiting process truly began.

His father refused to allow those circumstances, or the negativity and confusion they encountered during the recruiting process, to erase a dream Ryan had sacrificed and trained so hard to pursue. Father and son began working through the process together—learning its rules, identifying its obstacles, correcting mistakes, developing strategies, communicating with colleges, evaluating opportunities, and determining what a student-athlete and family actually needed to know to navigate recruiting responsibly.

That journey became Playing the Recruiting Game.

There was no learning management system and no 32-module curriculum at the time. There was simply a father determined to help his son understand and master a complicated process and a young student-athlete willing to do the work required to change the direction of his future. Every challenge revealed another lesson. Every mistake produced knowledge that could help the next family avoid it. Every breakthrough demonstrated another part of the process that could be taught.

Ryan did his part. Through discipline, accountability, academic improvement, preparation, and perseverance, he raised his GPA from 1.2 to 3.0 by high school graduation. The recruiting process that once appeared filled with obstacles ultimately culminated in Ryan receiving 26 scholarship offers from colleges and universities across the country. He went on to play collegiate football at Tabor College and Point University.

But the greater legacy of Ryan's recruiting journey was not simply where he played college football or how many opportunities he received. Glenn recognized that other student-athletes and families were encountering many of the same problems they had faced. The knowledge gained through Ryan's experience could be organized, taught, repeated, and passed forward.

Those lessons became the foundation of Playing the Recruiting Game, which Glenn subsequently taught directly to student-athletes in schools and mentoring environments. Over the years, the methodology continued to evolve as KDA and PTRG worked with additional student-athletes and families. What once existed through conversations, handwritten notes, whiteboards, personal mentoring, and Ryan's real-life recruiting experience was eventually transformed into the structured 32-module Playing the Recruiting Game — Recruiting 2.2 curriculum delivered today through PTRG Academy℠.

In that sense, Ryan is more than a graduate of KDA's early programs. He is the original student-athlete behind the PTRG methodology. His experiences—both the difficulties and the successes—helped create an educational pathway so that student-athletes following him would not have to enter the recruiting process without the knowledge and preparation his family had to learn firsthand.

Ryan's commitment to young people continued after his playing days. He became deeply involved in KDA initiatives and student-athlete development, wearing many hats over the years as a mentor, broadcaster, program contributor, and advocate. He also helped advance the High School Production Network (HSPN), which created opportunities for young people to gain exposure and practical experience through sports media and broadcasting.

Today, Ryan has also established a successful professional career in the insurance industry. As an Assistant Underwriter with Bass Underwriters, he works in property and casualty insurance, applying the analytical, communication, relationship-management, and decision-making skills developed throughout his professional career.

As Director of Student-Athlete Services for Keeping Dreams Alive Foundation℠, however, Ryan brings something to KDA that no résumé can adequately capture. When a student-athlete becomes discouraged by recruiting, academics, setbacks, uncertainty, or a process they do not understand, Ryan knows that experience personally. He also knows what can happen when someone refuses to give up on that young person and instead provides the education, accountability, preparation, and support necessary to move forward.

Ryan's commitment to service now extends into his faith and community as well. Together with his brother Glenn, he has embraced Men's Ministry through his local church, helping encourage men to strengthen their faith, families, leadership, and responsibility to others. That commitment reflects the same principle of service that has followed Ryan from his earliest years with KDA into adulthood.

Ryan's story represents one of the clearest expressions of the KDA philosophy. The obstacles one young student-athlete encountered became lessons. The lessons became a methodology. The methodology became a program. And the program now exists so that thousands of student-athletes who follow him can be better prepared to navigate their own journeys.

Ryan made sacrifices to pursue his dream. Glenn and Lisa walked that journey beside him. What their family learned along the way was not kept for themselves—it was transformed into something that could be given to others.

That is why Ryan Stoutt is not simply a product of Keeping Dreams Alive Foundation℠.

Ryan is the reason PTRG exists.

And every student-athlete who now enters PTRG Academy℠ benefits from lessons first learned through his journey.

Change One Life, Change A Generation℠.