Hallie Jiskra has found success on a whole new field this summer.
The 2012 Bonduel High School graduate, who participated in softball, basketball, volleyball and cross-country for the Bears, is making a name for herself in the 12-team women’s Legends Football League as a red-zone scoring threat.
Jiskra has five touchdowns this season, three coming in her debut in the Green Bay Chill’s season opener against the Seattle Mist on April 6 in Seattle.
Green Bay, which plays its home games at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, boasts the top-ranked offense in the league, led by quarterback Anne Erler. Jiskra was Erler’s favorite red-zone target early and led the league in touchdown receptions through the first half of the season, which is a hard stat to put up as a center.
“Nobody ever expected it until now,” Jiskra said. “Now everyone knows that I do it.”
Jiskra says she was a little nervous that first game, but settled down pretty quickly.
“It was crazy,” Jiskra said. “We played in front of 5,000 people. It was a sold-out arena. It was a pretty big game. Obviously my nerves and adrenaline were through the roof, but once you got the first play off your back everything else flowed pretty good.”
Last spring Jiskra, who attends the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, was invited to a Chill practice by the wife of one of her cousins, who also played on the team.
“She kind of just grabbed me right off the basketball court,” Jiskra said. “I was pretty hesitant at first, but then I was like, ‘yeah this is pretty cool,’ after I started hitting people and not getting in trouble for it.”
Jiskra said it took dedication to survive the practices devised by Chill coach Gilbert Brown, a former Green Bay Packers defensive lineman.
“You just had to show up every week,” Jiskra said. “We have pretty extensive, grueling practices. They are four hours long Saturdays and Sundays. They physically challenged us pretty hard. Probably one of the hardest conditioning sessions I’ve ever seen.”
Jiskra says eventually the pads came on and the girls started hitting each other.
“Whoever was left, that was the team,” she said. “We went through a lot of girls trying to see who would commit.”
Jiskra is grateful for the support friends and family in Bonduel have shown her.
“It’s amazing to come from a small town because I feel like I still have all the support I did in high school,” Jiskra said. “I still have my high school coaches buying tickets for my games. I still have people in the community come up and ask me about it. All my friends show up. We’re all at different colleges, they still show up. The support has been overwhelmingly awesome. Even from my family. That’s the drive that’s keeping me in the game.”
The Legends Football League re-branded itself this season, getting rid of the Lingerie Football League name and some lingerie elements to the uniforms.
“There’s no garters, no lace, no bows or anything like that,” Jiskra said.
Jiskra says she thinks the action on the field will impress people.
“I think once people actually show up and get past our uniform and watch us play they’re like, ‘holy smokes, this is hard-hitting real football,’” she said. “We don’t mess around on the field. It’s good Saturday night entertainment.”
Jiskra’s next game, against the Chicago Bliss, is one of the biggest of the season. With a win, the Chill will earn a playoff spot and head to Chicago on Aug. 17 to play the Los Angeles Temptation.
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