She’s undersized for a hockey player and had to overcome a hip condition.

Neither has slowed Emily Schollaert, an 11-year-old from Oakland Township, who’s headed to Toronto to play in the Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Tournament in April.

The invite-only showcase event will feature 100 elite players her age from both North America and Europe.

“Basically, it brings them all together and gives college coaches and junior coaches a chance to see these kids in one space,” said Emily’s father, Bill Schollaert.

Emily took part in girls-only prospect combines in Pittsburgh and Rochester, N.Y. The players for the tournament were selected from those events.

“I’m excited to learn and grow as a player,” said Emily, an energetic left winger.

Coached by Bill, who once laced up his skates for Butler High School, she first began playing organized hockey when she was 4.

“She could barely skate,” he said. “It was kind of funny.”

Bill coached her from that time, when she was wobbling around, up until last year.

“She’s pretty tiny, but she plays a hell of a lot bigger than what she really is,” Bill said. “Most of the girls have a good six, eight inches on her.

“She’s by far one of the fiercest ones there.”

As a newborn, she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and wasn’t able to walk for the first year of her life. It was a process for her to learn the game she loves.

“It was hard, but hockey made it so I could walk better,” Emily said.

Though her hip still pops every now and then while she moves around on the ice, she’s overcome the condition to succeed in her sport.

“She’s always told me she didn’t want to play girls because she wants to be able to check,” Bill said. “She doesn’t want to be separated. She wants the competition.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation doesn’t allow the women’s game to body check, although the Swedish Women’s Hockey League OK’d it for its 2022-23 campaign.

It’s an implementation that both Bill and Emily hope will make its way to local rinks. The former wants the rule to change to keep his daughter on the same learning curve as the boys.

As for the latter?

“I want the puck,” Emily said.

Once a week for over six months, she’s been working with a private skating coach, C.J. Stellabotte. He’s taken notice of her work ethic and commitment.

“She’s a very tough little individual,” Stellabotte said. “She wants to be the best and you can tell she’s in love with the game of hockey.”

That combination prompted Stellabotte to urge Emily to try out for the Esmark Stars, a team he also lends time to. Last year, she was part of both the Armstrong Arrows and the Pens Elite girls crew. The schedules for the groups didn’t always line up.

Looking to get her onto a higher level, her parents appreciated the chance for her to focus on just one team.

“She’s the first girl in their 40 years of existence to make that team,” Bill said. “She puts a lot of hard work in and spends a lot of time just shooting pucks. Her biggest thing is her heart.”

Emily just sees it as another chance to lace up her skates, no matter who the opposition is.

“She doesn’t care who it is,” Bill said. “She’s just there to have fun.”

According to him, Emily has always brought a tinge of chaos. From an early age, she was tubing and riding dirtbikes.

Her smaller stature might work to her advantage, said Stellabotte, who played in the Eastern Junior Hockey League before a short professional career.

“I relate to that really well, because I was an undersized player,” he explained. “Once they understand their quickness and how fast the game is, size really isn’t a factor.

“She’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas, but she remembers to get low, so a lot of the taller players kind of go over top of her.”

Traveling to play in tournaments with the Pens Elite squad, she frequently missed Fridays at school. Still, she was able to excel in the classroom, taking home straight As.

This fall, she’ll be entering sixth grade at the Butler Intermediate High School. She strives to one day take the ice for Penn State’s hockey team.

“The sky’s the limit for her,” Stellabotte said. “She has the opportunity and the ability to achieve and earn a Division I scholarship to play collegiately.”

Emily’s younger brother, Bill, 9, played with the Arrows a year ago, as well, and is now part of the Steel City Ice Renegades. Her older brother, Jared Chantz is 18 and recently graduated from Butler. He’s headed to Monmouth to play lacrosse.