Air Force vets want to help high school football players reach the pros from Japan

A student-athlete in a JFA American Football shirt demonstrates footwork drills through orange cones on a football field while several other athletes in matching black JFA shirts watch during a daytime practice session.

Student-athletes run drills during a Japan Gridiron Association football camp at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, Aug. 9, 2025. (Greg Mitchell/U.S. Navy)

TOKYO — A pair of Air Force veterans — both former high school football players — are in Japan with a plan to grow the sport and help young American and Japanese players find a professional career.

The year-old Japan Gridiron Association, by cofounders Tyler Moore and Joshua Cisneros, aims to expand the sport from youth leagues through college, with hopes that young athletes living in Japan may one day reach college and eventually the pro ranks.

“Our focus is really geared toward giving kids the opportunity to go to college,” Moore told Stars and Stripes on an Aug. 28 video call. “We’re developing a national ranking system as well, like what they do in America. Our goal is to even out the playing field.”

Two men in black shirts talk with three young football players in white and black uniforms on an illuminated football field at night, with residential buildings visible in the background.

Japan Gridiron Association cofounders Joshua Cisneros, left, and Tyler Moore interview high school football players at Camp Zama, Japan, Sept. 6, 2025. (Marc Castaneda/Stars and Stripes)

The association has hosted a series of camps this year, most recently on Aug. 9 at Naval Air Facility Atsugi that drew 57 participants from Japanese and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. Earlier sessions took place at Kubasaki High School on Okinawa and at Ajinomoto Stadium near Tokyo.

The group plans to roll out a subscription-based recruiting program this fall for parents and players. The six-week program is designed to guide players through the recruitment process for colleges, setting up their social media accounts and putting together a solid portfolio.

“Football has the ability to provide opportunities for these players, and that motivates me knowing we can help these players get well deserved opportunities,” Cisneros wrote in a Sept. 9 email. “I feel fortunate to have this opportunity to work at something I’m truly passionate about.”

Moore and Cisneros both served in the Air Force and grew up playing for their high school teams. After their military service, they said they decided to return to Japan to put their combined experience to work helping high school football players.

For now, the co-founders are funding the association themselves. They charge between $13.50 and $20 per person for the football camps, where coaches help young players refine their skills.

Instruction focuses on fundamentals, with coaches leading drills for quarterbacks, receivers and defensive players, Moore said. The camps have also paired American and Japanese students.

The association also includes human resources, legal representative Blue Aoyama and recruiting coordinator Kaoru Nishida, who played in the X League, Japan’s professional gridiron football league.

“I feel like JGA has a lot of potential when it comes to bringing the American way of football,” Nishida said in a Sept. 24 phone interview. “Through camps and combines to bringing American coaches, I feel like it will really provide a lot more opportunities to the players.”

Next spring, the association plans to host an international high school combine, where players from across the Pacific may be sized up by scouts. Recruiters are expected to attend.

“What JGA is doing is a vital step in getting the on-base kids the exposure that they need if they plan to continue the route of playing American football,” John Johnson, a counseling and advocacy program counselor at NAF Atsugi whose son plays high school football, said by phone on Sept. 24.