My name is Herceny Del Cid. I am 38 years old. I am originally from Guatemala, and I am also from Los Angeles - I am from two places. We immigrated to the United States when I was five. We crossed two borders on foot. I am the owner and founder of the Del Cid Coffee company, which started in 2023. I am also a former journalist, mostly freelance for FOX Sports Radio, iHeartRADIO, Univision, and Telemundo.
I support both my countries, Guatemala and the United States. In the MLS I have been an LA Galaxy fan since 1996, though I support any team that represents my city, while I support Comunicaciones F.C. in Liga Nacional de Guatemala. They are one of the best teams in the league and are known as "Cremas” because of their colors.
Made In Guatemala
We import coffee from my coffee farms located in El Rodeo, Santa Rosa de Lima, Guatemala. Our coffee is currently only available online at delcidcoffee.com. We are the entire supply chain from soil to roast. I say, "No middle man, just a woman". I buy coffee, as a US importer, from myself in Guatemala as a Guatemalan exporter. I pay taxes in both countries, unlike regular importers who have no connection to their farmers. We are the farmers.
It is important to me because they are my beans. We planted them - my father who passed away planted those coffee plants that are still producing. My coffee is a part of me. My coffee and I were both made on Guatemalan soil.Being Guatemalan to me means being natural and one with Earth. I am a walking billboard for Guatemala. Everyone who has ever encountered me even for a minute knows I am Guatemalan. Mostly because I have a very unique name, and I am the only one. So the first question they ask is, “Where is that from?”. It is filled with curiosity because I also have a very unique look, and it throws people off. That makes me especially proud to be Guatemalan. Although it was made up, I say my name is Guatemalan. Being Guatemalan means being Herceny.
It is very important for me as a traveler for the world to know that Guatemala is a beautiful country full of nature and that we love fútbol.
Legacy Of My Father
I am already crying. My father absolutely loved football. He did not miss a game, and if he did, we rewatched it. My father was the top scorer in football all his life. He was a poor kid in Guatemala, and he always said if he had the resources he would have been professional. So his dream was always to help kids in Guatemala through football.
Football for him was his identity. He was known as a really good soccer player from El Rodeo. It was his art. It was how he expressed himself and how he created something. It was his outlet of all emotions. Whenever he and I watched soccer together, we yelled, we laughed, we cheered, we cried! It was amazing! When he was not playing soccer, he was working the coffee fields with his brothers.
My father loved nature and loved Guatemala. In fact, my father was the first in our village to travel around Guatemala. He took us on road trips to explore Guatemala, from Tikal to Río Dulce and Lago de Atitlán to Esquipulas. That sparked curiosity in the rest of my family. My father loved Guatemala, and he was so proud. That is why I feel most connected to him when I am watching soccer or when I am on the coffee farms.
Born Into Soccer
My love for soccer has been instilled in me since birth. We used to go watch my dad play in Guatemala, and he joined leagues here in Los Angeles too. Being on the field and watching soccer was just natural to me. I did not learn to love it or discover it. Like coffee and bread, I was just born into it. It is just me.
I started playing soccer myself when I was 14. My father did not allow me to at first because he did not want me to get hurt, but I had been playing with him and my cousins since I was a little girl. I started my freshman year in high school, and everyone was shocked because I was so good. Imagine how much better I could have been! I joined soccer leagues and only stopped playing in 2019. When I tried to play again, my left knee was in too much pain.
Football has taught me the importance of working in a team. I believe it taught my father this too. You learn leadership skills, geometry, and to see the possible future based on the placement of things in your life. As a journalist and a fan, my love for soccer has taken me to the offices of FedeFut (National Football Federation of Guatemala), the locker rooms of famous teams for interviews, Camp Nou in Barcelona and Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, and Canada for the Women’s World Cup. I am also a US B License coach, but have not used it professionally yet.
It was all fun and amazing and the best time ever, until my father was diagnosed with cancer. We still watched soccer together as he did chemo. I took him to Estadio Mateo Flores in 2011 for the first time! We visited the stadium because my father had never gone and he had dreamt about it.
After he passed away, I could not watch a soccer game without breaking down. It was difficult because at the time I was Director of Marketing for a USL team called Orange County Blues. That was the lowest point of my life. It was not until around 2020 that I started my mental recovery and football is not so hard to watch anymore, but something beautiful to remember my father by.
The Real Guatemala
I have been watching the Concacaf Gold Cup at home here in Los Angeles. I wear my Guatemala jersey, I scream, I yell, I clap, I cheer. Everyone will know I am supporting Guatemala. I feel completely nervous. I am a total wreck until the final whistle!
I have never watched Guatemala play in Guatemala, but I have watched them play in the USA a lot!
I always supported our national team, but I did not like that there was not enough support. I had a hard time relating to people who did not understand the importance of your country being represented on the global football stage. And I am global. I am an immigrant. Maybe I related to football in the United States because it is misunderstood. I decided to join American Outlaws LA and met more people like me. I made sure FOX Sports Radio aired news about the 2010 World Cup and they allowed me to cover it. I knew I had to be part of the change.
I wanted people to see that Guatemala, our culture, and our people exist. I feel like people only see the bad parts of Guatemala, which are not many. My goal is to show the real Guatemala. What it really is, what we are really like, what we really do.
A Family Affair
Most of my photos are of my brothers, Kevin and Lendel, and my mother, Marina. We have been inseparable since our father passed away.
Kevin is my little brother. I was 12 when he was born so I see him more like a brother/son. He was 16 when our dad died, so I have taken a more motherly role in his life. He is my baby. I absolutely love him.
Lendel is my other little brother, but I am only three years older than him. We were separated when I immigrated here with my parents. He stayed in Guatemala. We reunited again four years later and he has been my best friend. He is our rock and took the role of our protector after my father died.
My mother Marina is the most important person in my life. I have never been away from her, and I am so blessed to have such a badass mom!Lastly, Chuchito is my pitbull son. I found him in 2015 when he was four months old. I was in severe depression, and I needed help. Somehow he ended up at my feet. I fell in love immediately and little did I know how much I needed him, as well as my brothers and my mom. He brought me back to life.
A Connection To The World
Football is huge in Guatemala! It is an escape. It is entertainment. It is a connection to the rest of the world.
I would like to see more resources for the communities like my village who produce players like my father. I want them to be seen and given opportunities to grow. I want the world to know that Guatemala loves football, and I want Guatemala to win a World Cup!
I want my coffee company to be absolutely loved the way I know how to love. I want Del Cid Coffee to be part of all soccer communities. I cannot wait to feature the World Cup qualifying countries in 2026 on my coffee bags, with Guatemala being in front of the line! ¡Vamos Guate!
Quickfire Heritage Questions
What are the words or phrases/sayings that anyone from your country will know?
Puchica!
¡calidad!
Patojo/a!
¡que chilero!
What are the most distinctive landmarks in your country?
Tikal, where our ancient Mayan pyramids are.
Lake Atitlan, where there is an ancient Mayan city underwater, the lake is surrounded by three beautiful volcanoes.
Antigua, which is the oldest colonial city in North America. Antigua was once the capital of Guatemala under the Spaniards. It is a very catholic city full of churches and convents.
What is your country most famous for?
Guatemala is most famous for our Mayan pyramids. In 2012 the entire world was aware because of the supposed end of the world based on the Mayan calendar, but the world did not know that the Mayan calendar just restarts. So Guatemala was the only place where we were excited for the brand new sun.
What do you consider your most distinctive food dish?
Guatemala’s traditional dish is pepián, which is mostly a vegetable stew. It was a recipe prepared by indigenous people and Spaniards, but one of our main foods is corn and cacao. In my region we have a dish called estofado which is very similar, except with ingredients we grow in our region.
We make everything with corn and the Mayans were the ones who developed and created the corn. It is said that they developed corn from a small wheat. We make tortillas, tamales, and a sweet corn drink called atol de elote. We roast them over fire, we make them in soup. We have corn tortillas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
If you could say “these three things symbolize our country and our people”, what would that be?
Friendliness, nature, Mayan.
