Skylar Hendrix’s resilience and perseverance shine in Taekwondo competition

Skylar Hendrix has shown a competitive drive in training and competition for her chosen sport, Taekwondo, not even letting broken bones slow her down.

Her mother, Sydney Adams, said the 11-year-old first got interested in Taekwondo when she was 4. These days she practices seven days a week, taking traditional classes and competition team classes at Georgia Elite Taekwondo of Forest Park.

“I like it when I sometimes have a bad day or something, I can kind of get my frustration out by doing taekwondo,” Skylar said.

Skylar won the silver medal in the WT Presidents Cup – Pan Am international competition in Querétaro, México in July. She also won the silver medal at the Canada Open in Vancouver earlier this year and a bronze at the U.S. Open. Adams said her daughter was ranked second among the Pan Am – North America, Central America, and South America. She’s ranked second nationally..

Just a few years ago her competitive days could have ended. She was still fighting her match but was hobbling in a tournament. Her coach checked her foot and told her she was done for the day. Adams took her daughter to their doctor, who referred her to the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Orthopedics Department. Dr. Ashley Brouillette confirmed that Skylar broke her big toe and the platform of her foot.

Brouillette “put her on a great treatment plan that basically had Skylar back on the mat within six weeks,” Adams said.

The big toe is used for propulsion and a lot of balance, Brouillette said. That makes breaking it more significant. For Skylar, a barefoot athlete who requires a lot of quick movement propulsion from her feet, healing well would be important.

Brouillette, a primary care sports medicine doctor, said big toe injuries are common in many sports, especially for barefoot competition.

That might have sidelined another person completely, but with her doctor’s help, Skylar could continue training exercises that didn’t use her foot, which was in a boot.

Brouillette spoke with Skylar’s coach and trainer about what exercises and training she could do without using her foot. That was beneficial and helped Skylar maintain her form, she said. They were able to continue balance work, especially with her good foot, and continue a lot of core and upper body movements that are important for training.

“We had her coming out of the boot and doing some ankle range of motion stuff so that it wasn’t stressing her toe, but it kept her ankle from getting too stiff so that when she was healed, she was able to really get back very quickly,” she said.

Her mother said Skylar has always had this resilience and perseverance in pursuing Taekwondo. Even with an injury, she still wants to be on the mat.

Adams has suggested Skylar that they take a break and have a normal night at home in Decatur away from the dojo, but her daughter doesn’t want to leave the practice.

“What drives me is because I know that I want to go to the Olympics, so I’ll just keep going even though it may get hard,” Skylar said.

She competes as a first-year cadet, which includes ages 12 to 14. The age cutoff puts her against kids up to age 14, who may outweigh her and have greater height.

She attends KIPP Strive Academy in Atlanta and entered the eighth grade this year.

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