At Breckenridge Coffee Roasters we approach the coffee industry in a way that strives to respect, support and celebrate everyone who contributes to making your morning cup of coffee possible. More Than Coffee is the way we give back. Whether it is supplying coffee for volunteer projects here in the mountains or taking a portion of our sales and reinvesting them into the coffee farming communities, we want to bring the coffee industry full circle and give back to the people who allow us to do what we do best: roast coffee.

We are excited to present to you the third More Than Coffee project: Sounders Fútbol Club. This is a project inspired by a man from Minnesota and his first trip out of the country to Guatemala where he learned to celebrate the simple things in life including good coffee, great friends and soccer.

Exceptional coffees, like friendships, are grown with both dedication and sustainability.

When I was 20 years old, my best friend’s dad was deported to Guatemala after living happily and peacefully in Minnesota for nearly 25 years. Nate’s family was like my own, his father Hector like a second father, there was always a spot for me at their table. Nate and I spent the majority of our childhoods skateboarding, carefree, caring less about cultural differences and focusing more on building a lifelong friendship and bonding over our shared hobbies.

Shortly after Hector was sent to Guatemala, I went along with Nate to visit. Since then, I’ve traveled around the world from Seoul to Medellín, but this trip to Guatemala was my first ever experience outside the country. Little did I know how this trip would open my eyes up to the world and impact my awareness of what truly creates "prosperity" in a person's life.   

When the wheels of our plane touched down, my senses were immediately assaulted. The smell of diesel, the sounds of the chaotic streets, and the feeling of flying over windy hills as we drove from Guatemala City to San Andrés Itztapa--it felt like a world apart from the one I’d left operating, on its own set of rules.

Hector lived in a three-story tall structure, all roughly hewn from cement and rebar, and ran an Internet Cafe from the street level. On our first day there, we met Nelson and Napa, two brothers working at the Cafe-- Nelson was maybe 12 at the time, and Napa was even younger.  Nelson and Napa acted like our guides to the town, though we spoke little Spanish and they spoke no English.  Their friends became our friends, and we spent the evenings sipping sodas out of plastic bags, running through the streets and playing soccer on dirt fields. I wanted to photograph everything I saw. I wanted every corner we explored to stay with me for the rest of my life. 

When I returned in 2016,  Nelson and Napa invited us into their home where their families quickly became our families too. We sat in a small room with a dirt floor and watched soccer on an old TV. We ate and watched as Guatemala shut out team USA in a World Cup qualifying match. As they won, the whole town seemed to come alive with joy and victory. As fireworks went off in the street, it suddenly occurred to me that soccer represented more than just a game for my new friends. Soccer was a way to identify with a community and come together, even if it meant playing on a dirt field. 

Nate and I spent the summer of 2016 riding on chicken buses, exploring tucked-away towns, getting lost and frustrated, and most of all kicking a soccer ball around with Nelson, Napa and other locals that we couldn’t communicate verbally with, but somehow didn’t need to. My relationship with the boys remains strong to this day and I check in often to make sure they are doing well.

When Breckenridge Coffee Roasters approached me about sponsoring a team, Nelson and the team were already at the front of my mind. We used some original film photos from that first trip I took to tell the story of how our paths crossed and we built a friendship through passing a soccer ball back and forth in dirt fields in the middle of a country that helped build my perception of the world outside of Minnesota. 

This coffee comes from the Blue Ayarza region in Guatemala. It is medium roast with tasting notes of raspberry, blackberry and plum. The proceeds from each of the 50 12-oz bags of Sounders Futbol Club coffee, the third More Than Coffee project, will go towards new jerseys for Nelson’s team.

Each bag will include a print from Tanner’s first trip to Guatemala where he met Nelson and his brother almost 7 years ago. You can purchase a bag for yourself online here and in-store at Cuppa Joe Breck until we run out!

View more of Tanner’s work at www.tannerjames.co