Former Taekwondo champion turned high school football star and attended UW

MUKILTEO, Washing. – From a world-class fighter to a future Division I football player… that’s the reality for Kamiak High School senior Victor Sanchez Hernandez.

After competing at the international level in Taekwondo, the Olympic hopeful switched to soccer as a freshman in high school, and will soon play on Saturdays.

Just a few years after actually learning to play the sport, Sanchez Hernandez will continue his football career at Montlake and play a crucial role in Jedd Fisch’s first recruiting class at UW.

“I think fighting has been a big aspect of my life, not only in sports, but in life,” Sánchez Hernandez said.

Before Victor Sanchez Hernandez was a three-star football recruit with offers from multiple D1 programs, he was the top-ranked Taekwondo fighter in his weight class in the world. He had won almost everything there was to win in the sport.

“I was a three-time Junior Olympian, a two-time Pan American champion and a three-time national champion. I was one of the candidates for the 2028 Olympics,” he said.

Now he’s a game-breaking defensive end and tight end for the top 25 Kamiak Knights, on track to play at the University of Washington.

Sánchez Hernandez broke out last fall, earning first-team honors as a defensive player for Wesco, thanks in part to what he learned on the mat all those years.

“I think it means a lot because it’s an attacking sport. And when the ball is snapped in football, especially on the d-line, you have to get ready to strike,” Kamiak football coach Ivan Mclennan said.

“You push yourself. You push that mentally and physically,” Sánchez Hernandez said. “I feel like in football it’s more of a team basis. Personally, I enjoy the team success more than the individual success because I feel like it’s a lot harder to be successful as a team than as an individual.”

After winning just one game all season, the dual-sport sensation is looking to lead the Knights to the postseason this fall.

“You have to be hungry to get that quarterback. For me, I interpret it as chasing the quarterback is the same as chasing my dreams. There is nothing that will stop me from achieving my dreams and achieving the things that I what I want to achieve in life,” said Sánchez Hernandez.

As Victor makes his way to the next level and beyond, what will be remembered in the halls of Kamiak High School is who he is, not how many times he gets to the quarterback.

“What I like most is that last year he always sat with the freshmen at lunch and had lunch with them in my class. And you know, this is a guy who is being recruited by some of these big colleges, but he has to have such humility to sit with freshmen and talk to them and joke with them, that’s what this program is about. That’s where Victor Sanchez doesn’t see stars, he just wants to be part of the team. be someone who contributes to victory, and that’s what he’s done so far,” said Coach Mclennan.

Victor says his goal is to one day make it to the NFL, but he isn’t closing the door on Taekwondo just yet. He said that if he changed his mind and started fighting again, he would like to become an Olympian. Whichever route he takes, one thing is certain. He will continue to fight every step of the way.

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