By Tseten Samdup
Tenzin Yangkyi Chhoekyapa, a Tibetan girl of 16 was awarded the best sports woman of the year at one of top schools in Canberra, Australia’s capital city.
The citation read during the school’s annual graduation said, “Yangkyi has excelled in the sport of water polo being selected in the ACT (Australia Capital Territory) Schoolgirls Team for the past two years to compete at the School Sport Australia National Championships. This is a tremendous performance considering that it is an open event whereby she completed against Year 11 and 12 students. Yangkyi has recently been selected in the ACT u/20’s team and will experience National League Competition this summer.”
For the past four years, Yangkyi has been the undefeated shot putt champion in her age group. She led her school badminton team to the ACT schools final match and won.
As well as excelling in her sports, she academically received 18 merit awards in the past two years.
“My aims is to be in the Australia’s under 19 national water polo team in two years time and then represent Australia in the Olympics.” said Yangkyi.
Yangkyi and her two younger sisters attend Telopea Park School, Canberra. One of her younger sisters represented the Canberra state in under 15’s girl soccer team.
Telopea Park School is administered as part of the Australian Capital Territory Government school system. Students come from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. They range in age from five to sixteen. The school has a truly international character. Well over a third of the students were born outside Australia.
Yangkyi’s father is His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Representative in Geneva. She and her family moved to Australia in 1995 when her father was the His Holiness’ Representative in Canberra.
