How Jazmin Gamble plans to rebuild Hawthorne High

Football can train many life classes and no one is aware of that better than Jazmin Gamble, the new varsity head coach at Hawthorne High.

As a girl in a male-dominated career, one might outline her as a trailblazer — and that could be correct — but while she acknowledges the historic significance of what she is doing, Gamble isn’t letting it distract her from the duty at hand — turning around a program that has fallen on onerous instances.

“It’s less about proving a point and more about giving all these boys a better experience,” Gamble said. “I’m not downplaying the impact of it, rather I want to leverage the attention in a way that benefits the players and opens doors for them. I’m elated and honored that the district saw my vision and said ‘this girl can do that.’ I have to ask myself how I can use this opportunity to spotlight our team.”

Gamble, who turns 36 in June, is a operating back and linebacker for the Los Angeles Legends in the Women’s National Football Conference, a full-contact skilled league consisting of 16 franchises across the United States.

Gamble was chosen Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 when she gained a league-leading 549 yards dashing (averaging 11.9 yards per carry) while scoring three touchdowns.

“I tore my ACL my first season and was on injured reserve, but I came back in 2022 and have been playing ever since,” she said. “We made the playoffs last season but lost in the first round. We’re 2-1 right now with three games left. We played our first home game at Long Beach Poly, so the boys got to see their coach in action. We won 23-0 and I scored a touchdown, but it got called back due to holding.”

The Legends’ next home sport is April 25 against the Utah Falconz at St. Anthony Sports Complex in Lakewood.

“This is my last year playing, but I’ve been wanting to transition more into coaching,” said Gamble, a licensed personal coach and fitness teacher who began a business 10 years in the past called the Jazz Standard. “I first heard about the job through my coaching network and it sounded very appealing. I applied, I interviewed and I got it. Football takes up so much of your time and energy. I’ve done enough in this sport. This is a good time for me to stop, and although this is my first crack as a football head coach I’ve been coaching athletes for six or seven years, including some of my teammates, and they got better.”

A Bakersfield native, Gamble was an distinctive all-around athlete. Growing up she was a gymnast and a cheerleader. She performed membership volleyball, ran observe and performed basketball while attending 4 high colleges, two in Bakersfield and two in the Bay Area, and graduated from Mt. Diablo High in Concord.

Upon shifting to Los Angeles 13 years in the past, she was in survival mode.

“I was homeless and slept in the back seat of my car for a couple of months until I got a job in human resources,” she recalled. “I started training and working in the fitness field and after struggling to make it for a few years I decided I wanted to be a business owner and things took off from there. Now I have 33 active clients that I see two to four times a week and even train the No. 2 rusher in the WNFC.”

Gamble lives in Inglewood but her business is in Gardena close to Serra High, where she acquired concerned behind the scenes with the flag soccer workforce before the game was formally sanctioned by the CIF in 2023.

“A few of those girls trained with me and I learned to adopt a different schematic approach. Boys are playing football as early as 5 or 6 years old, whereas women are starting at 20 or even their early 30s and their bodies aren’t prepared for it. I didn’t start playing tackle until I was 31.”

Gamble is still assembling a employees but one of her assistants shall be her brother, Kenneth Davis, a former receiver at Liberty High in Bakersfield.

Hawthorne doesn’t have a junior varsity workforce. There had been 29 gamers on the roster last yr and 9 graduated.

“On Day 1, I had 22 come to the weight room,” Gamble said. “Some players are in track right now, but in May I’ll have ‘em all. My strong suit is development so I’m ready for this. Right now, we’re at ground zero. We’ve only had a handful of practices, mainly conditioning. The boys have been super receptive. I’m just going to be me!”

Hawthorne went 2-8 last season, ending fourth in the Ocean League and being outscored by 281 factors. The Cougars had been shut out thrice.

“Jazmin’s a breath of fresh air,” said athletic director Mario Romero, who was concerned in the hiring course of. “She’s brought enthusiasm across the entire school community and I’m excited about where her leadership is going to take us.”

Hawthorne High soccer coach Jazmin Gamble reveals her gamers how to run a drill during apply.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Fifteen gamers confirmed up for a one-hour workout Wednesday at HalCap Field. One of them was quarterback Anthony Green, who performed in the last two video games as a sophomore last yr after transferring from King/Drew and is the projected starter next season.

“She made a good impression,” he said. “I like the workouts — they’re very intense — and I like the competition. Coach expects a lot and she pushes us.”

Gamble put her gamers through a sequence of drills to take a look at their stamina, quickness and approach. The penalty for strolling was push-ups.

“Everything out here is earned … may the best man win!’ she shouted.

“Her practices are intense — she knows what she’s doing,” added junior linebacker Adrian Lopez, who was an All-League first teamer last fall. “She has a home game coming up and I think I’ll go out and watch. My goal for us is to have at least a .500 season and make the playoffs.”

Gamble isn’t the first feminine to coach varsity soccer at Hawthorne. Monique Boone was the varsity defensive position and assistant offensive line coach in 2021 under earlier head coach Corey Thedford. However, overseeing your complete program places Gamble in rarefied air.

What satisfied Romero that Gamble was the suitable particular person for the job?

“Her background, her skill set and also the fact that she plays the sport herself at a high level,” he said.