One afternoon in the month of May, Óscar Hernández and his wife Blanca went to the Dodgers stadium to watch a game of the team. The Salvadoran couple living in Los Angeles had received tickets from their daughter Elisa, who told them that she could not go with them because she had to work.
Wearing clothes from her beloved Dodgers and Accompanied by other family members, the Hernandezes were waiting for the start of the game sitting in their seats when suddenly the stadium announcer introduced new hosts or hosts of the team for this season.
Elisa Hernández appeared on the giant screens of Dodger Stadium making her debut. Your job as host is to talk about Dodger news before games, get the crowd excited with in-game promotions and contests, and, in short, be a voice and a face of direct contact with the fans.
“Wow!”, reacted Óscar, her father, who is a fan at heart.
“What is that monkey doing here?” He asked himself in astonishment. She planned everything to surprise her family and she succeeded.
Several weeks later, the new Dodgers employee took her father to the press box so that he could meet Jaime Jarrín personally, the baseball Hall of Fame reporter he admires so much. Jaime was the one who had indirectly taught him over the years the sport of baseball via his radio narrations, many times while the Salvadoran man returned from work.
“He was excited afterwards and told me that Jaime was very kind”, Elisa recounted regarding that special meeting between her father and the chronicler who is in her season 60 and last.
Elisa Hernández’s surprise for her family illustrates the personality of this young woman from 31 years old born and raised in Los Angeles, whose enthusiasm has allowed her to open spaces in the media, including digital platforms, since she is also in charge of the main NFL social media account aimed at young Hispanics in the United States.
Hernandez and n his job as a host at Dodger Stadium. /CourtesyInstead of going to Los Cabos on vacation, she would clean houses
Elisa Hernández says that she always liked sports, and always he liked to talk. After several years of knocking on doors and learning, today he can do both things at the same time.
But as in the case of many children of Latin American immigrants, pursuing their dreams has involved special effort and sacrifice.
She remembers that when she was studying at USC, where he arrived after starting at a community college in Pasadena, many of his classmates were from wealthy families.
“They in spring break they would go to Italy or Cabo and I would go to work, cleaning houses or anything”, reveals Hernández, who started working as a communicator in programs and school projects at USC.
After graduating, she was an intern for the local ABC channel; she worked with Lakers Nation, which is a team news site; then he came to the Dodgers Nation site and later had the opportunity to collaborate on NFL content projects.
During all this learning process, Elisa met many people from the means, she says that she learned from them and applied an old piece of advice that her father gave her.
“When I was a girl I used to go to work with him and he always told me: ‘You have to try everyone with love, kindness and respect’. That gave me inspiration”, comments Hernández.
However, the communicator had noticed in those years and earlier during her studies that in sports journalism in southern California there was no there were many latinas in front of the camera, specifically women with dark skin like her.
“For me it was like, is there a place for me or how am I going to do it? And being Salvadoran is something else, because all the women I looked at -and now there are more- at the time they were all Mexican. In my mind it was: ‘Mmm, I’m not Mexican and I appreciate Mexican culture, but I’m Salvadoran’”.
Another Latina from the Dodgers gave her the confidence to grow
As always, opportunities come to those who seek them. Elisa went looking for hers, but she needed to find a job that would allow her to prepare herself, and especially to gain self-confidence and clear up her previous doubts.
That moment came in 2019 being hired as a field producer for Alanna Rizzo, who then was the official reporter for the Dodgers.
“The person who It really changed me, it was Alanna,” Hernandez says of the 7-time Emmy Award winner, whom she credits for giving her confidence. Rizzo, for his part, believes that Elisa made his job easier and has generous words for her.
“She was an example of what a producer( a) it should be,” says Rizzo, who currently works as a host and national reporter for MLB Network. “Combined with the fact that she is fluent in English and Spanish and has everything it takes for a bright future in this industry”.
The season 2019 of the Dodgers will be unforgettable for Elisa Hernández, who has touched the opportunity to be part of the group of hosts of the stadium while the team is shown as the best of the Major League campaign. But there have been other aspects that have made it even more special.
“This season has been full of fun because it has been the 33 anniversary of Dodger Stadium and from the first day when I surprised my parents, I have been able to host some events like the All-Star Game,” she says.
“And now, especially after the death of Vin (Scully) and being the last season of Jaime (Jarrín), it gives me a sense of pride to be able to hold a Dodgers microphone, obviously in my case working (as host) in the stadium”.
“Por la Cultura” in the NFL: Hernández Helps Elevate Latino Voices
As September approaches, Elisa Hernández prepares for the best part of the year, not only because Dodger Stadium will be the hottest place in baseball down the stretch of the season and into the playoffs, but also because the start of the NFL is just around the corner and with it comes projects aimed at Hispanics in which she is involved.
“We are going to our second season of El Snap (@elsnapnfl) and I think there are many new ideas that they are going to materialize”, advances the communicator, who without being able to give details says that the most powerful league in the world will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month as never before, in what is a reflection of the growing interest and relevance of the Hispanic public. His job is to help elevate the voices of Latinos who love football through the NFL’s “Por la Cultura” initiative.
“The NFL teams are helping the accounts they have in Spanish. The teams want to grow there,” says Hernández, who will be part of the delegation that will travel to Mexico City for the game between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers the 21 of November.
Although there is still a lot ahead for Elisa, she trusts that her case will serve as an example for many young Latinas, including Salvadorans of course, understand that professionalization goals can be achieved based on tenacity and having a plan.
“Being a Latina, a darker Latina, and showing that I am here in LA with the Dodgers, that makes me proud.”