TITLE: Ice time has arrived for high school girls' varsity teams practice for first time monday. DATE: October 28th, 1994 DESCRIPTORS: FIRST LIST HOCKEY PREP WOMAN Copyright (c) 1994, St. Paul Pioneer Press Hockey sticks in hand, 10 girls tear up and down the ice at Pleasant Arena in St. Paul. At one end of the rink, a girl struggles to keep moving forward without falling; at the other, another barrels toward a goalie, hoping to rocket a puck into the net. They are the Blades, the St. Paul public schools' newly formed girls hockey team, and they and scores of other Twin Cities high school girls are coming to a hockey arena near you. Monday is the start of official practice for the first season of varsity high school girls hockey in Minnesota, and some team members were already skating together informally this week. They were marking another milestone in a years-long move toward equity in boys and girls athletics. Some advocates of the sport see special significance in the arrival of girls hockey - it is the first time for a girls sport with full-body contact. ``There have been a couple of girls that have played football. This is the first team effort to sort of go into that direction,'' said Ron Slotsve, St. Paul schools' supervisor of athletics and aquatics. ``It's breaking down the barrier that says girls shouldn't be in those types of sports. We're finally saying, `Why not?''' The addition of girls hockey indicates that ``the anatomy of sports is changing. No longer will youth hockey be spelled B-O-Y-S,'' said gender equity consultant Mitzi Witchger, who has been pushing for girls hockey at Twin Cities schools for a number of years. Some schools have had teams in the past, but in March the Minnesota State High School League sanctioned girls hockey as a varsity sport. As a result, 35 public and private high schools have combined to form 24 teams for the season. That should be enough to hold a state tournament in February, although a decision won't be made by the league until Nov. 17. In St. Paul, girls from all six high schools in grades 7 through 12 can join the team; 38 have signed up, exhibiting a variety of skating skills and athletic experience. ``I'm glad they got a boys' sport that girls can play,'' said senior Jessica Gebhart, 17, who has lettered in both soccer and softball at Como Park High School but has never played hockey. Though her skating was a little wobbly, her enthusiasm was unshakable. ``Everybody laughed when I ran into the boards,'' she chuckled. ``It was painful. I lived through it.'' Blades coaches Jill Gebeke and Sue Sajevic stood outside the rink, watching the players through the plexiglass and discussing the skills and drills they will work through during upcoming practices. ``Getting to know kids from other schools and getting to play with them on a team, I think that will be exciting,'' Gebeke said. ``This is awesome!'' Como Park High senior Bonnie Brings, 17, said after a two-hour workout on the ice. As a child, Brings chose speed skating over hockey because ``I didn't see a future in girls hockey at all.'' She hopes her speed skating will help contribute to the win column for the new team. ``I'm just trying to get the stick-handling down. These girls are really helping me. I can't wait for practice.'' Jessica Biever, 17, who has been skating since she was 3 years old, waited a long time for girls to have a hockey league of their own. The Johnson High School senior has been playing hockey for the past 10 years with the Greater St. Paul community team. ``I think it's about time,'' she said. ``I don't think they - the high schools, the fans, the news - recognize girls sports enough.'' Some of the girls had to choose between playing on other amateur teams to compete on a league-sanctioned team. Nickie Kelly, 15, said she'll miss playing with the Highland Park-Central boys team. ``I like playing with the guys because I have a lot of friends on that team,'' she said. ``But I'd like to see this take off.'' Kelly and several others girls are already thinking about what positions they want to play. Kelly said she wants to play goalie, the position she also plays on the soccer team at Central High School. ``I like having all the action.'' Highland Park High freshman Kristen Strand, 14, wants to play defense. ``I'm really aggressive,'' she said. ``I've always played defense in any sport.'' While several seniors lament having only one season to play for the St. Paul team, Krista Garvie, an eighth-grader at Humboldt Junior High, is glad to be getting an early start ``so I can keep on playing.'' Girls who sign up to play must pay $50, unless they receive free or reduced-priced lunch, buy their own skates and shin, elbow and shoulder pads. The district supplies their game uniforms, helmets, gloves and breezers. Unlike boys' hockey, the girls will not be allowed to body check - physically knock someone away from controlling the puck. That's doesn't bother coach Gebeke. ``It should speed the game up, I would think,'' she said. ``Not as many whistles.'' One apparent result of the rise of girls hockey is the declining interest in ice ringette, a girls sport that achieved growing acceptance in recent years. Most recently, District 196 replaced ringette with hockey at Apple Valley and Rosemount high schools. CAPTION: Photo: Bill Alkofer/Pioneer Press Bonnie Brings, right, gives a high five to Jessica Gebhart as Anne Godschadt looks on during a recent skate-around. The three Como Park High School students hope to be on St. Paul's first girls hockey team.