WA Taekwondo champ turned football star heading to UW

Former Taekwondo champion turned high school football star heading to UW

From a world class fighter, to a future D1 football player --- that’s the reality for Kamiak High School senior Victor Sanchez Hernandez.

MUKILTEO, Wash. - 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 over to football as a high school freshman, and will soon be playing on Saturdays.

Just a few years after actually learning how to play the sport, Sanchez Hernandez is set to continue his football career on Montlake, playing a crucial part in Jedd Fisch’s first recruiting class at UW.

"Fighting I think has been a big aspect of my life, not just in sports, but in life," Sanchez 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 is to win in the sport.

"I was a three-time junior Olympian, two-time pan-American champion, three-time national champion, I was one of the candidates for the 2028 Olympics," he said.

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

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

"I think it translates a lot because it’s a strike sport. And, in football when that ball is snapped, especially at the d-line, you have to get ready to strike," said Kamiak football head coach Ivan Mclennan.

"You’re pushing yourself. You’re pushing that mentally, physically," Sanchez Hernandez said. "I feel like in football it’s more of a team base. I personally enjoy the team base success more than the individual success, because I feel like it’s a lot harder to have success as a team than as an individual."

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

"You’ve got be hungry to get that quarterback. For me, I interpret it as chasing the quarterback is like me chasing my dreams. There’s nothing that’s going to stop me from getting my dreams and accomplishing the things I want to accomplish in life," Sanchez Hernandez said.

While Victor is on his way to the next level and beyond, it’s who he is, and not how many times he gets to the quarterback, that will be remembered in the halls of Kamiak High School.

"What I love most is last year during lunch, he would always sit with the freshmen, eat lunch with them in my class. And, you know, this is a guy who’s being recruited by some of these big colleges, but him to have such humility to sit with freshmen and talk to them and joke around with them, that’s what this program’s about. That’s what Victor Sanchez is about. He has no ego. He sees no stars, he just wants to be a part of the team, be somebody that contributes to winning, and that’s what he’s been doing so far," said Coach Mclennan.

Victor says his goal is to make it to the NFL one day, but he isn’t closing the door on Taekwondo just yet. He mentioned that if he were to change his mind and go back to fighting, he’d like to become an Olympian. Whatever route he ends up pursuing, one thing is for sure. He’ll keep fighting every step of the way.