Roldan Goes From Commercial Star To Soccer Standout
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
When Cristian Roldan was in third grade, representatives from Adidas were looking for young, talented soccer players to appear in a commercial.
Coaches from the league Roldan played in were asked to bring their teams in for auditions.
“We didn’t know much about it,” said Roldan, now a sophomore midfielder for top-ranked Washington. “Our parents brought us. I didn’t want to go. My dad kind of forced me.”
One of 110 children to try out, Roldan showed off his juggling skills.
“If they liked you, they gathered your information and asked for you to return and have another tryout,” he said.
The number went from 110 to 50, 30 to 15, 10 to five, two to Roldan.
“I was very fortunate to be that final pick,” Roldan said.
As a 9-year-old, Roldan didn’t quite realize at the time what he had accomplished.
“You don’t really know how big of a deal it actually was,” he said. “I think my parents had more of an idea than I did.”
The commercial was filmed in Los Angeles. It took 12 hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“It was kind of overwhelming at the actual commercial,” he said.
He didn’t quite know what he would be doing until he arrived for the shoot. It took about 15 minutes to get to the various locations used in the commercial. At each one, Roldan would collect a plastic bag. He trapped one with his left foot. He climbed a fence to pull one out of barbed wire. He snagged another that floated toward him.
“It was kind of nerve-wracking being a 9-year-old kid and just not knowing what to do, how to act, any of that,” he said. “It kind of was just act natural and try to do your best.”
Once he had two full bags of plastic, he was filmed knotting them into a ball. When he finished, he juggled the ball of bags as the commercial cut to the slogan: “IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING.”
“They told me what to do and I just tried to follow as closely as possible,” he said.
When a DVD of the commercial arrived in the mail, he saw the finished product. Roldan realized he had helped create something special.
“I was super excited about how it turned out,” he said. “It was just a really cool thing to have, to be a part of. Not a lot of kids get that chance. I’m very fortunate to be in that situation. It’s just funny to say I was in a commercial. I tend to forget about it and people remind me. It’s just cool to have in the back of your mind.”
The commercial remains on YouTube. Roldan’s friends share the clip with other friends. If a plastic bag ever lands on the Huskies’ practice field, one of his teammates will kick it and say, “Hey, I’m Cristian Roldan.”
“It’s a pretty funny joke,” he said.
It has been a decade since he filmed the commercial and, while he didn’t go on to become an advertising star, he has flourished on the soccer field. So far this season, Roldan has two goals and two assists for the top-ranked Huskies. His personal numbers aren’t where he wants them, but he is celebrating the success of his teammates.
“It’s great to see other players step up,” he said. “To have the players we have on the team and to have a balance between offense and defense, it’s a different team this year and I’m very excited to see what comes of it.
“We definitely want a national championship and I think we’re capable of being a nationally contending team. I think our quality as a whole is above the rest and, as long as we stay consistent with our game, we’ll do just fine.”