Caitlin Smith came out of a bathroom at the Ice Forum in Duluth wearing makeup, a shirt tied at the bottom by her abdomen, a pair of short shorts, and dress shoes with one-inch heels.

For a girl who plays on an all-boys sports team, her clothing might come as an initial surprise to some. Especially considering that the sport is ice hockey.

"I'm a little bit of a diva," admits Smith, who says she won't leave the house without makeup. "Why wouldn't I make the effort to look presentable?"

Smith's usual appearance is a direct contrast to her attitude on the ice, where she has been played hockey as a goalie for the past four years.

A resident of Lawrenceville, the soon-to-be 16-year old said that she took an initial attraction to hockey at the age of 10. After going to the Ice Forum to practice her figure skating, she saw the Atlanta Thrashers practicing and was immediately drawn to the sport.

She convinced her mother to buy her the equipment needed to play, and found leagues to get involved soon thereafter. She stopped figure skating, and has been playing since, often on multiple teams at the same time. Smith played last season on the Middle Georgia Iceman out of Columbus. Her team was second at state.

Most of the teams available to Smith, however, are boys teams and not all her teammates liked the idea of playing alongside a girl.

"I was curious about that when we first started," said Ed Shelton, who coached Smith this past spring on an Ice Forum house team. "I wasn't sure how [her teammates] would react about that."

But, after three years, Shelton admits that Smith does a great job of blending in.

"She just wants to be one of the guys," Shelton said. "She wants to go out there and show everybody what she can do."

Smith says she prefers playing hockey with guys over girls.

"You can't even really compare women's hockey to men's hockey," Smith said. "It's just a totally different game. I prefer [men's]. It's just like having a bunch of brothers."

However, it hasn't always been easy for Smith to blend in.

"Lipstick and ice hockey don't typically mix," said Jonathan Hall, her fall house team coach from August 2006 to March 2007. "The struggle of being surrounded by all males is not an easy one."

Towards the end of the season, the tension became so high that Smith contemplated not showing up to the championship game.

But Smith, with the help of Hall, eventually decided to play. Her team won, and Smith was on the ice as the final buzzer sounded.

"I think that it takes a strong person, especially for a female surrounded by all males, to stick with it and be successful," Hall said. "That says a lot about her."

Smith will attend Culver Girls Academy in Indiana this fall. She plans on pursuing a career in broadcasting, either as a war correspondent or a sportscaster. Smith will try out for the Culver team and plans on playing the sport she loves for as long as possible.

"I love the intensity, I love the action, I just love everything about it," Smith said. "There are some things I wouldn't have learned outside of hockey. I think it's made me a stronger person, too."