The Quinn family got girls’ flag football started in Pennsylvania. Now, they’re seeing the benefit.

The unofficial first family of girls’ flag football in Pennsylvania is at it again.

About six years ago, Tim Quinn and his wife Katie started the Athena Warriors flag program for their daughters.

It began with eight players and a few brave moms who played to ensure they could fill every position.

A year later, the Quinns, who live in Lansdale, had more than 40 players.

Since then, more than 300 girls have come through the program. Some even took the spirit of Athena and started flag teams at their high schools.

On Wednesday, after the PIAA sanctioned girls’ flag football as a high school sport, Tim Quinn had already embarked upon a new quest.

“You know me,” Tim Quinn said in a phone interview, “I’m right to work. I have five more states I want to convert.”

More than 100 high schools across Pennsylvania plan to field a team for the inaugural 2025-26 season. Flag was labeled an emerging sport in 2023.

» READ MORE: PIAA board of directors approves girls’ flag football as a state-sanctioned sport

The growth of his daughters and the other girls at Athena, Tim Quinn says, is what keeps him going. The Quinn family worked closely with the Eagles and other organizations to help foster support for the sport in the state and beyond through the years.

“We never anticipated this,” Tim Quinn said. “It wasn’t our goal. But the girls put everyone else first. They love the game and wanted others to experience it.

“It’s emotional. It really is. ... How often can you say that you were a key player in starting a sport in your state? And we have so many girls who can now say that.”

His daughter, Caitlyn, earned a scholarship to Milligan University in Tennessee, where she is coached by Ryan Witten, the brother of former Dallas Cowboys star Jason Witten.

Another daughter, Krista, will join her sister on the field this year as a freshman at Milligan after graduating from Gwynedd Mercy Academy, where their father still coaches the flag football team.

Keira Quinn, now a junior at Gwynedd, still plays quarterback for her dad. Another daughter, Kara, played for Athena but now focuses on college.

» READ MORE: Flag football gave Lansdale Catholic grad Caitlin Quinn a college opportunity she didn’t know was possible

In May, Krista starred in the inaugural PSFCA Big 33 girls’ flag football tournament, representing the Eagles at Cumberland Valley.

In a phone interview, former Eagles defensive back Bobby Taylor, who was instrumental in adding girls’ flag to the Big 33, said he received numerous emails from those who appreciated of the opportunity.

“I replied that I wanted to thank them because they were trailblazers,” said Taylor, who’s now a global flag ambassador.

Raquelle Dandy, 19, continues to blaze trails.

At five years old, Dandy was a cheerleader in name only because she was too busy watching the game to cheer.

The 2023 Northeast High School graduate, who grew up in Germantown, played tackle football with boys growing up.

Dandy’s favorite player was Shannon Sharpe, because, she said, she related to his confident swagger.

She eventually earned the nickname “Shades” since day or night she often sported sunglasses.

“When I first started playing,” Dandy said in a phone interview, “I loved to throw the boys around. That was my favorite thing. Then I’d take my helmet off and they’d be like, ‘Are you a girl?’”

» READ MORE: Flag football has ‘totally empowered’ girls in the Philly area. That’s wonderful.

Coed tackle football, she explained, didn’t come without challenges.

She still retains some genuine friendships, but some boys never accepted her, or worse, made her feel unwelcome.

When she learned of Athena, Dandy begged her mother to let her play.

Dandy had always been shy, so it wasn’t a surprise when she uttered few words the first week.

“By the second week,” she said, “I was saying hi to everyone and giving everybody hugs. It ended up being good for me to learn how to communicate instead of being shy on the sidelines.”

She eventually started a club team at Northeast during her senior year after two years of rallying interest.

“Playing with the girls was more comfortable and laid back and a way for me to be a girly girl,” she said. “I’m not usually a girly girl. I’d always been a tomboy. But with the boys, you kind of had to be tough or they would take advantage of you. … But with the girls, you could be more feminine.”

She eventually earned a scholarship to play flag at Hesston College in Kansas. She later took a gap semester, returned to Philly, and helped coach flag at Northeast.

» READ MORE: Eagles players applaud the PIAA’s addition of girls’ flag football

Now, she attends Shippensburg University, where she hopes to start a flag football team.

“I’ve learned that if I want something,” she said, “that I definitely can go get it.”

She’s overjoyed that other girls might learn similar things about themselves. Dandy also has aspirations of coaching in the NFL.

“Being part of the rise of a great sport and helping to create a high school program myself is something I will carry with me forever,” she said. “My heart is with Athena for welcoming me from day one.”