Odessa Jenkins

American flag football player and administrator who founded the USA Flag Touch Football League and won multiple world championships.

Odessa Jenkins was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, California, where she lost her brother to gang violence, an experience that made sports a vital outlet for her as a young athlete. She earned a Division I scholarship to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, before spending a decade working in healthcare technology. Jenkins entered women's tackle football in 2008, quickly being ranked the number one running back in the world and helping Team USA win multiple world championships, before becoming one of the first women to earn an NFL on-field coaching position through the league's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, serving as a running backs coach with the Atlanta Falcons. Jenkins co-founded the Texas Elite Spartans in 2014, coaching and co-owning the team to five championships, before founding the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC) in 2018, which grew into the largest professional women's tackle football league in the United States, securing sponsorships from major brands including Adidas and Riddell. Jenkins was named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Texas in 2024, and has continued to build the WNFC's national profile, describing women's professional tackle football as sport's "final frontier" and remaining one of the most influential figures in expanding opportunities for women and girls in American football.

Pioneer in organizing and promoting women's flag football in the United States

• Women's Football Alliance Champion
• USA Women's Flag Football World Champion
• Founder of USAFTL

Team Career

Team	Period	Games
Dallas Diamonds	2008–2014	—
Team USA (Women's Football)	2008–2017	—
Dallas Elite (WFA)	2014–2018	—
Texas Elite Spartans	2014–2017	—
USA	—	2