Hanna graduate makes a huge splash at Adidas

Brownsville native and Hanna High graduate Amanda Zamora Rodriguez has a simple message for local youths: dream big. Rodriguez is a shining testament to these sentiments as the Apparel Design Manager for Adidas Golf.

Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Paula Creamer are just a sample of the athletes that Rodriguez gets to use as canvases and models for her vision. She is at the forefront of her industry and after only four years in the business she has garnered a reputation as a trendsetter and won several awards including Best Golf Apparel Company by Golf Week magazine.

Rodriguez lives in Carlsbad, California with her husband where she oversees the Adidas Golf opera-tion. She's traveled around the globe, met countless star athletes and celebrities but still maintains that she's proud of her roots in Brownsville and hopes to return to live one day.

On Friday she sat down with The Herald and fielded questions about her experiences.

Q: At what age did you realize that you wanted to be a fashion designer?
A: Probably since I was 8. I got a sewing machine for Christmas and started making dresses.

Q: Did you always want to design athletic apparel?
A: That was pretty strange for me because I always wanted to do swimwear or dresses but I was al-ways into sports. I played six different sports in high school.

Q: What did you play?
A: I was in basketball, volleyball, cross-country, track, softball, swimming and then I started designing and it was really easy for me and I liked it a lot. I was surprised because basically I'm a jock. (She was a part of the ‘98 Hanna 200 medley relay swim team that set the school record at 203.98)

Q: How much has being a jock helped you in designing athletic apparel?
A: Designing certain technical innovative pieces with the body. Its easy for me because I play those sports, it helps a lot.

Q: How did you hook on with Adidas?
A: One night I was looking at Craig's List and it said that they needed a technical apparel illustrator. I just said O.K. I'll try, I was fresh out of school (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in L.A.), I knew a little bit so I went to the test and they called me back and said that it was between me and one other guy. I was like oh great; he's going to beat me there's no way. But I got a call the next day and they said they wanted to hire me.

Q: What are you most proud of in regards to your designs?
A: Probably watching Sergio where all my stuff, Justin Rose wears all my stuff and all the pros around Tour. I actually just saw Justin Timberlake wearing my stuff on TV and James Caan is a big fan of our stuff. Also, we're finding that people who don't play golf are wearing it because it's so different from the average traditional clothes.

Q: How much input do the golfers have into the actual design? For example does Garcia come to you and say that he needs the clothes to fit a certain way?
A: It's custom fit for him. After everything's developed he'll tell me what he likes but it's more after everything has been developed.

Q: I heard somewhere that Nike lays out and plans what Tiger's going to wear a year in advance. Do you do that as well?
A: About a year in advance.

Q: So you know what Garcia is going to wear during the Masters next year?
A: Oh yeah, definitely.

Q: What is it?
A: It's been awhile since I've seen it, so I don't think I can remember off the top of my head.

Q: What's the weirdest request that you've received from an athlete, like a lucky color or superstition?
A: Paula (Creamer). She has to wear pink. Every season we have to include pink because she loves it but there's only so much that you can do with one color.

Q: What's the latest thing in athletic apparel that maybe the average person wouldn't know about?
A: Probably the different fabrics. Cotton is out, synthetics are in. A lot of people think that a polo should be cotton and they're not used to synthetics yet but it feels and looks so much better.

Q: I was told that you came out on the Golf Channel. Is that correct?
A: Yeah.

Q: What was that like?
A: It was kind of intimidating, but I was like yeah I'm this girl from little Brownsville, Texas. It was really cool, they were nice.

Q: Is this something you want to continue, do you feel that you have found your niche or do you want to expand to other things outside of athletics?
A: Probably stay in athletics, maybe in a few years I can launch my own company. I would like to branch out to swimwear at some point.

Q: Are you still active, do you still play sports?
A: Yeah I am. I cross-fit, weights, racquetball and I golf. I love being fit, I love it. Cross-fit is something I would like to bring to Brownsville.

Q: Do you ever think of launching your own company in Brownsville?
A: Definitely. I think about it all the time.

Q: What advice would you give someone in Brownsville who has aspirations of being a designer one-day?
A: Work really hard. Try and do as much as you can before college. Read about new designs, study as much as you can so that you will be ahead of everyone else when you get to school. People will tell you that you're from Brownsville so you can't compete with people in the big cities. That's not true. Don't ever give up.