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STUDENT LIFE

The Story of a Story

by Annicka Sen '25

In 2019, Annabel Yue ‘28 published the novel ‘Selina the Football Girl’, which was loosely based on her experiences as a female athlete who often faced discrimination due to her gender. 5 years later, Annabel continued juggling her various responsibilities, faced more challenges and emerged even stronger from them, which sparked the sequel ‘A Court of Her Own’.

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The front and back cover of 'A Court of Her Own'

‘A Court of Her Own’ examines the pressures that young athletes face, centering around twin sisters Amy and Florence Vaquez-Vesicalo. The characters grapple with parental and coach expectations alongside the age-old questions of whether passion can trump talent in sports, and if young athletes are really playing for themselves or out of obligation.

Albeit a little different, Annabel was also asking herself these questions during the last five years, as her mother describes. “In recent years, she has grown much taller and experienced significant growth pain in both of her knees. As a winger, her position on the team requires a lot of speed, so for a while, she considered quitting football and doing other sports instead” Her mother describes, “When she started to play basketball in her breaktime in HKIS with friends, it planted the seed of the idea for this sequel.”

“There were a lot of factors that went into it,” Annabel adds. “The growth pain yes, but also travel times. The teams I played with, they train really far away from my house. Additionally a lot of the trips [the football team] went on happened during the school year, and it pulled down my grades a lot and I didn't really get the opportunity to study.”

“So it was a lot of things that made me consider stopping for a while, like maybe I should get my life back in shape. But I'm glad I didn't quit.”

Despite considering a permanent end to her sports career, she ultimately decided to continue playing football on the Hong Kong Women’s National team. With support from her coaches, she underwent intensive training to prepare for the Eastern Asian’s women’s football championship, and travelled to Thailand and Dalian, China. The training required Annabel to ice her knees before and after getting on the pitch, alongside daily physio treatment. In the face of these challenges, Annabel persevered, determined to stay with the sport she loved.

All sales proceeds from Annabel’s books go to the NGO InspiringHK, whom she was first introduced to by her mother. “I chose InspiringHK because it’s more sports based and works with underprivileged kids who don’t really have the opportunity to go through what we go through. If they’re really committed to something, the NGO gives them the chance to pursue that.”

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Annabel participating in a game in Macau

With all her commitments, Annabel’s learned a lot about herself. "My biggest takeaway from this experience was probably time management,” says Annabel, currently a grade 9 student at HKIS. Between juggling sports matches and assignment deadlines, she quickly realized that time management would be key when it comes to making everything work for her “At HKIS, my teachers were very crucial to this. They were very flexible and understanding when it came to late submissions and helped me improve my time management and perseverance with schoolwork.”

Student, professional athlete, and published author. Not the most likely trio of words to describe someone, but that’s exactly what Annabel Yue is, someone who stands out with her determination and ambition, with the support of the community around her she continues to tell stories while also experiencing her own unique journey.

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