Founding Story
During his last two years of university, Wagul founder and CEO, Zach Lubin, was brought on as the Programme and Logistics Coordinator for the Running Out of Time climate relay. The first relay started in Glasgow (host of the United Nations’ COP26 Climate Conference), covering 18 countries and crossing 7,767 kilometers (4,826 miles) over 40 days to Sharm El Sheikh (host of the COP27 Climate Conference). On the second relay, he joined the support crew in segments to help ensure the baton successfully made it from Ben Nevis in Scotland to Big Ben in England.
Partway through the UK relay, Zach returned to Glasgow to attend his graduation ceremony, and he moved back to the States once the relay ended. Just a few days later, he joined an organization focused on ethical advertisement and sustainable transportation planning in professional football (soccer). However, despite his involvement in multiple initiatives that were connecting sports with climate action, he had not yet considered pursuing the intersection of the two professionally.
It wasn’t until Zach attended COP29 in Azerbaijan that he realized the potential to develop this space. Upon reflecting on his talk as part of a Sports and Sustainability panel at the world’s biggest environmental event, he noticed the lack of experts capable of discussing this nexus, and he decided that something needed to be done to fill this gap. In early 2025, the Director of Operations from a youth soccer club in California reached out to explore opportunities for making his club’s operations more sustainable. Zach jumped at the chance to explore this unique youth-based avenue within the sports and sustainability nexus, and it was the final piece of the puzzle to kickstart Wagul.
In May 2025, Wagul was officially registered as an LLC to become an umbrella company with divisions designated for specific purposes. The first is the consulting arm of Wagul, entitled Green Pitch Consulting (GPC). GPC began as a project with the aforementioned youth soccer club and Zach’s colleague, Matilda Becker, who came up with the name.
What is WAGUL?
Simply put, Wagul means water. By combining the words for water in the three languages with which Zach has had a personal connection (English, Spanish, and Korean), the term “Wagul” was created. As a former high-level athlete, an avid adventurer, and a reusable water bottle advocate, Zach is synonymous with water among his friends and colleagues. Furthermore, the significance of hydration in active, healthy lifestyles more broadly, and the importance of water from an environmental perspective, make it a fitting symbol of the work that Wagul does linking sports and sustainability.
WAter + AGUa + mUL = WAGUL
