San Jose group bids for an expansion team in women’s tackle football league

San Jose could soon join Chicago and Jersey Shore as one of the expansion teams in the Women’s National Football Conference, a semi-pro tackle football league.

Silicon Valley tech executive Jake Langner is leading a small group of investors who are exploring the opportunity to bring a San Jose team to the growing, six-year-old league that currently has 17 teams.

The Bay Area group includes leaders with experience from locally headquartered companies and brands such as Google, Apple and Nest.

“This is a unique and dynamic opportunity to accelerate our mission and become a part of the Bay Area’s innovative sports and entertainment market. As a proud California native, I know the power and cultural impact of the Bay,” said WNFC founder and Los Angeles native Odessa Jenkins, a Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo product who is a former football standout. Jenkins also doubles as the head coach of the Texas Elite Spartans.

If the San Jose effort succeeds, the Bay Area will join other WNFC cities such as Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas and Seattle as part of the league that’s also expanding to include a flag football team for each franchise in 2025.

The San Jose contingent hopes to follow in the footsteps of two other women’s professional sports teams that launched in the past year — Bay FC of the NWSL and the Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA.