Faced with the threat of declining enrollment and the closing of prominent Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs, university faculty, and personnel must re-examine the efforts and effectiveness of strategies used to recruit and retain high-quality students. While the mismatch between supply and demand in teaching and teaching of physical education is non-debatable, the reasons for this dichotomy remain the focus of inquiry. Calls for PETE professionals to more actively engage in student recruitment to bridge the supply and demand gap has been issued. This paper is a response to this call and outlines a proactive approach to recruitment through the use of journey mapping and student personas in designing targeted recruiting efforts to attract more diverse and high-quality teacher education candidates