Pro women’s football league reaching goals

By David Mullen

“Key block at the 50. Cutback at the 40 … the 30 … the 20 … She could go all the way!”

She?

There is a national spring football league championship coming to the area, and the teams are made up entirely of women playing tackle football.

“At its core, we are a professional women’s football league. We are centered in tackle football,” said Odessa Jenkins, founder and chairwoman of the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC). “We have a mission to accelerate financial equity for women through power football. That is the end game.” 

Finishing its sixth season, the “WNFC is the most competitive and provocative women’s football league in the world. The organization has a mission to accelerate equity in sports for women and girls through the power of football,” the league’s website stated. “With players from [more than] 20 countries, the WNFC is a thrilling sports property that combines football and entertainment with a commitment to equity, inclusion and social responsibility.”

WNFC games are played 11-on-11 in full pads and helmets under NCAA college football rules with 12-minute quarters. The league features 17 teams from across the United States, including the Central Division Texas Elite Spartans, who play their home games at Coppell Middle School — West. 

The teams play an eight-game regular season schedule and are divided into three conferences: Pacific, Central and Atlantic. Cities represented by WNFC teams include Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington D.C. The in-state rival for the Elite Spartans are the Houston Mambas.     

Jenkins was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. She suffered through the tragic loss of her brother to gang violence. But she emerged from the mean streets to become a top high school athlete and earned a Division 1 scholarship to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. 

“I’m a Division 1 college basketball player, but football has always been my first love,” Jenkins said. “I played football up into the eighth grade and when I finished my college career and moved to Dallas, I went looking for football.”

But she had to establish a career. Jenkins began working in sales before transitioning to a decade-long tenure in healthcare technology. In 2008, Jenkins entered women’s football, where she quickly rose to prominence, being named the “No. 1 Running Back in the World” and leading Team USA to multiple world championships. “Yes, the U.S. has a women’s tackle football national team,” Jenkins said, “that goes out and plays other countries every four years and it’s been undefeated for the last 25 years.”

Jenkins said her “turning point and why the WNFC exists” spawned from what happened in 2017. “I was, at the time, coaching and still the top running back in the world. I just won a gold medal with my teammates and a national championship in a league that existed,” Jenkins said. “I got recruited to go coach in the NFL. I’m in week 7 with the Atlanta Falcons, coaching the running backs, and Devonte Freeman is about to sign the biggest contract in the history of the NFL [at the time] for a running back at $48 million. 

“I’m in my prime and no one has ever given me a dime to play the sport at the highest level. I decided right there that I never wanted anyone, another woman or particularly my teammates or girls coming after me and saying that they feel like — because they were women playing the highest level of football — they’d never be compensated,” Jenkins said. “One year later, I took everyone that I knew who was smart and asked them to join me to tackle the idea of building a commercial property that would help eliminate pay to play for professional women’s football. And that’s where the WNFC is five years later.”

Jenkins returned to coaching and team ownership in 2014, co-founding the Texas Elite Spartans and later the WNFC, which broke barriers as the first women’s tackle football league sponsored by major global sports brands like Adidas and Riddell. 

On June 5 and Saturday, June 7, eight teams — including the Elite Spartans — begin a playoff series that will create an Eastern and Western Conference champion to compete in the WNFC IX Cup Championship at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco on Saturday, June 21 at 2 p.m. Hip-hop icon Bow Wow will headline the halftime show, sponsored by Glenhouse. More than just one game, Jenkins and the WNFC have created the IX Cup Championship Weekend from Friday, June 20 to Sunday, June 22 in Frisco. Thousands of fans and elite women athletes will gather at the Ford Center, and the weekend will be broadcast on ESPN2 and Victory+. For tickets, schedules and additional information, visit wnfcfootball.com. 

With business always top of mind, Jenkins and the WNFC developed the only women’s American Football online shopping space in the world where you can purchase wholly owned, league-branded apparel for 100 percent of all participating teams. In 2024, the league renewed sponsorship agreements with adidas, Riddell, and DICK’S Sporting Goods. The website for wearables is wnfcfootball.com/shop. 

The league supports girls and women in football through the official WNFC charity “Got Her Back.” The charity has received support from Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation, USA Football, Gatorade and others.

In addition to her league and coaching responsibilities, Jenkins is a sought-after keynote speaker and coach, mentoring leaders in sports and corporate environments on building diverse and inclusive teams. But as always, championship football is on her mind. 

“Our Championship Weekend showcases the vibe, talent and power of women’s sports,” Jenkins said. “Frisco will be buzzing with excitement, star power and brand partners that underscore our mission of accelerating equity in women and girls through the power of football.”

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