WLU coach and athlete with South Sudanese connections hope to inspire future students

A football coach and an athlete at Wilfrid Laurier University have found common ground through their shared heritage. CTV’s Colton Wiens reports.

A coach and an athlete on the Wilfrid Laurier University football team have found common ground through their shared South Sudanese heritage.

Running back coach Nial Both and defensive back Paul Loggale, who felt an instant connection when they met, are continuing to pave the way for others like them in the community.

“This campus has changed a lot. When I first got to Laurier back in 2002, you could count how many Black kids were on campus, where now I think it’s grown a lot,” Both said.

Both, 44, has been living in Waterloo Region ever since his family fled South Sudan back in the ‘80s. He was only seven years old when he arrived in Canada as a refugee with his family on December 4, 1988.

Both first stayed at Reception House in downtown Kitchener, saying there weren’t many others like him in the community, but playing football and other sports helped him adjust to his new reality.

“When I first came here, English was not even in the equation for me, that was something I had to learn,” Both recalled.

“I think gravitating to athletics was something that was pretty easy because it bridged a lot of the barriers that I had. And, through play, [I was] able to make some new friends.”

Both played football at Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute and was a Golden Hawk for his university career. Following a coaching stint at the University of Waterloo, he’s now the running backs coach at Wilfrid Laurier University. Both said he continues to use his influence to try and encourage Black youth to pursue post-secondary education, especially those of South Sudanese heritage.

“It’s not unique, because when I was coaching at the University of Waterloo, that was something that I made a priority. I wanted to try to get as many South Sudanese kids as possible, not just from an athletic standpoint, but just for the opportunity of having an education,” Both said. “When you’re coming from a war-torn country, education is such a privilege. Where here, if you put in the work, it’s something that’s there.”

That’s why Both gravitated to Paul Loggale, when the defensive back joined the Golden Hawks squad in 2023. Loggale was born in Edmonton, after his parents and six older siblings left South Sudan. Although he was born in Canada, Loggale said there was an instant familiarity when he met Both.

“I very much understand what he’s gone through, coming to Canada, and it really helped to build our connection,” Loggale said.

“Even throughout my visit, I was spending a lot of time with his kids. I kind of feel like they just drew towards me and he was a big reason as well as to why I decided to come here. Just having a conversation with him and him making me feel welcomed.”

Both said the connection was instant for him as well when the two first met.

“After that, I was like, ‘you know what? I have to figure out who this kid is’. And then I wanted him to then know that there was another person here that is of the same nationality as him,” Both said.

Loggale and Both became the first Golden Hawks of South Sudanese heritage to win a Yates Cup in 2024.

Loggale said seeing other athletes with South Sudanese heritage succeed at professional levels continues to inspire him to push to be a pro.

“It definitely does motivate me to strive to follow their footsteps. I know some of them. So just being able to pick their brains on whatever I may have in mind is very helpful,” Loggale said.

While Both said his and Loggale’s stories aren’t that unique, they want to follow in the footsteps of those before them and continue inspiring others like them to pursue their dreams.

“Although you could see other Black athletes or other Black people, there weren’t a lot of South Sudanese examples, because when you come here and you come from a war-torn country, athletics is not the priority,” Both explained.

“Adjusting to the climate and adjusting to the culture and the society here, even though you’re drawn to athletics from a standpoint of the fun, it takes an awful lot to be a student-athlete at the university level … So I think we provide an opportunity for kids that are that are looking at us to say that it is possible and you can do all this.”

Wilfrid Laurier University produced a short documentary on the two players.