Gwynedd Mercy senior hopes her Maxwell award inspires other girls’ flag football players

Krista Quinn, a senior at Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School, said she was speechless Feb. 4, when she stepped onto the stage at Drexelbrook Event Center in Drexel Hill, and became part of history during the Maxwell Football Club’s high school awards banquet.

For the first time in the organization’s 87 years, the esteemed Maxwell Football Club honored girlswith Mini Max Awards, which recognize the best high school football players from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.

Quinn, a wide receiver and safety for Gwynedd Mercy’s flag football team, is signed to play at Milligan (Tenn.) University. She was one of 10 local girls honored by the MaxwellClub.

“As a girls’ football player, it was such an uplifting moment,” Quinn said in a telephone interview. “We didn’t feel out of place or anything.

“I really hope this inspires girls to play and pursue their football dreams. I realize many people are hesitant to play because they haven’t done it before — but really, nobody has done it before.”

The Maxwell Club honors football players at every level, from high school to the pros. At the conclusion of the 2022-23 NFL season, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was selected as the Bert Bell Professional Player of the Year, and his coach, Nick Sirianni, received the Greasy Neale Professional Coach of the Year Award.

Other inaugural Mini Max Award winners included Kimberly Donnelly (Archbishop Ryan), Stefania DiPalma (Lansdale Catholic), Maya Johnson (Abington), Natalie Gordon (North Penn), Elaysha Vereen (Mastery High School of Camden), Casey Burden (Wissahickon), Nilah Thompson (Science Leadership Academy at Beeber), Ruth Duink (Academy at Palumbo), and Alexis Sears (Cedar Creek).

“The opportunity to engage in the support and development of girls’ flag football is a wonderful avenue for the Maxwell Football Club,” executive director Mark Wolpert said in a statement. “Our goal is, and always has been, to support football at all levels, so the chance to be on the forefront of these amazing opportunities for girls and young women is something that we value greatly.

“We are honored to be a small part of the development of this game and look forward to offering our resources and support to the young women who are serving as the pioneers of this emerging sport.”

Girls’ flag football has boomed in recent years across Pennsylvania.

Quinn’s love for the sport was sparked by her older sister, Caitlin, and her mother, Katie, who founded Athena Athletics, the state’s largest all-girl recreational and travel football program, in 2018. Athena competes out of Montgomery County, and regularly participates in national tournaments.

“In all honesty,” Katie Quinn said, “this level of growth was something that was never on my radar. We always wanted it to happen, but girls’ flag football is on the fast track right now. This was such a huge honor for Maxwell to recognize this group of girls and bringing them into the organization. This is just another piece that has helped bring validity to the game.”

The Quinns’ involvement took a step further in spring 2022, when the Eagles launched their Girls Flag Football League.

Now entering its third season, the league, which began with 16 teams from the Philadelphia Public and Catholic leagues, is expected to feature 92 teams from the Philadelphia region and South Jersey with an estimated 2,300 participants. Since its launch, the Eagles have hosted girls’ flag football teams at the NovaCare Complex and Lincoln Financial Field for practices, games, and tournaments. The Eagles have made additional efforts toward elevating its Girls Flag Football League, including sending girls from the league to NFL drafts, where participants have announced the team’s Day 2 draft picks.

» READ MORE: ‘Football is not just a male sport’: The Eagles’ girls’ high school flag football league is breaking down barriers

Last August, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association designated girls’ flag football as an emerging sport, igniting the next step toward making it an officially sanctioned sport.

“We are proud to share how far our Eagles Girls Flag Football League has grown in just two years,” Eagles president Don Smolenski said in a statement last month. “We are grateful to our school and community partners for their support in providing female athletes the opportunity to experience the on-field and off-field lessons in the game of football.”

As Krista Quinn prepares for the next stage of her playing career, she is aware some level of uncertainty lies ahead for a sport that is still growing. If doubt creeps into her mind, she said, she’ll remember that evening at the Maxwell Awards that empowered her peers.

“It was personally important for me because there have been so many ups and downs,” she said. “But the ups have been so good…You don’t see other sports changing the rule book still. It’s still very new. Hopefully girls from all over the country see how important this movement is, and hopefully it inspires many more girls to play football, and know there is a space for us in this sport.”