First Team Football Academy Camps

First Team Football Academy Camps offers non-contact and full contact football camps that include agility, conditioning, and tackle football technique instruction in a controlled environment. Camp activities include blocking, tackling, position appropriate drills, conditioning and agility work, and speed and agility for youth athletes, along with options for private and group instruction and youth summer camps. Some staff also coach Track and Field.

• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Camp sessions run June 8–11, 2026 and June 15–18, 2026, from 5:00–8:00 PM
• Price: $275; $495

The non-contact camp is physically and mentally challenging, includes agility and conditioning, and is described as appropriate for all levels of experience and for athletes seeking to improve physical fitness prior to football season. Participants in the non-contact camp are described as increasing their fitness and football IQ and having fun, and highlight videos of the non-contact camp are available. The full contact camp uses fully padded sessions to teach, review, and learn basic football fundamentals, including blocking, tackling, position appropriate drills, and conditioning and agility work, and is described as a physically demanding week for which FTFA strongly encourages attending the non-contact camp to be prepared. Participants in the full contact camp are described as being prepared for their tackle season and having fun, and highlight videos of the full contact camp are available. Combo camps are available for families who enroll in both camps and are described as a way to save money.

After years of private instruction, scholarship consulting, and coaching football, First Team Football Academy was founded in 2011 and has grown to be described as one of the largest and most effective youth camps in Northern California. FTFA has worked with several varsity players who have gone on to play college football and achieve all league, all city, all region, and all state honors, and several first-year youth players who attended camp before their first season have gone on to make their teams, start, and receive team MVP awards in their first year.

Owner and Head Instructor James Greule is a 1994 graduate of Casa Roble High School, where he was a two-year starter at center and defensive end and earned 2nd team all league honors. At Sacramento City College from 1994–1996, his credentials include 1996 NJCAA All American, 1996 NJCAA Academic All American with a 3.8 GPA, League Defensive Player of the Year, 39 career sacks in two years, team captain, 1st Team All Nor Cal, 1st Team All State, a JuCo single season sack record, and a #67 Division 1 prospect ranking in the nation by Superprep with over 35 Division 1 scholarship offers to every BCS conference. He played at Oregon State University from 1997–1998 on a full scholarship in the Pac-10, switched to defensive tackle/nose guard, played more reps at defensive tackle than any other player on the team, and recorded 9 career sacks including a multiple-sack game against Stanford. He was awarded a free agent contract and attended camp with Jon Gruden’s Oakland Raiders in 1999, then went on to coach at Casa Roble High School (varsity offensive and defensive line, 2001–2002), Oak Ridge Junior Trojans (2010–2017), the Sacramento Youth Conference Shrine Bowl as defensive coordinator (2013) and head coach (2017), American River College as defensive line coach (2018), and Folsom High School as JV defensive line coach (2019–2021), JV defensive coordinator (2022–2025), and Head Varsity Defensive Line Coach (2025–current). Since 2011 he has run First Team Football Academy, doing 1-on-1 and small group training and multiple youth camps in the Sacramento area, and he is also the lead instructor for Linemen Win Games (2018–current).

Lead Instructor Jakori Ford is a Sacramento native who played quarterback and defensive back for the Natomas Nighthawks from 2007–2010, then played for Coach Haflich at American River College and earned a scholarship to Idaho State University. He spent time with the Indianapolis Colts in 2017, has coached at Yuba College in Northern California including coaching running backs, and is currently a Graduate Assistant Coach at UC Berkeley while earning a second master’s degree. When his schedule allows, he coaches speed and agility for youth athletes, and he has earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Physical Education.

Lead Instructor Coach Jovan Parler was born and raised in San Francisco, graduated high school in 1995, and was offered a scholarship to play at San Jose State University as a Prop 48 before transferring to Menlo College, where the coaching staff included former NFL players Doug Cosbie, Tim Harris, Kenny Stills Sr., and Keith Mallard. After graduating in 2001 and attending tryouts for several leagues, he began coaching at the same Pop Warner program where he started playing in 1988. His coaching experience includes the PAL SF Seahawks, Mission High School in San Francisco, Castlemont High School in Oakland, the SF Stingrays women’s tackle team, Oak Ridge Jr Trojans, and serving as a 2017 Shrine Team coach. In addition to football, he has coached Track and Field for the Sacramento Speed Factory, a youth USAT program.

Parent testimonials describe the FTFA staff’s instruction, activities, and mentorship as raising one camper’s interest in football and competition and note that he looked forward to returning each day and the following year. Another parent credits FTFA’s “to the point” training and technique-focused teaching with helping a smaller lineman make a Junior Pee Wee team and successfully block larger opponents, and expresses plans to return to camp.

Last updated June 10, 2026.