The Name

Many people who initially are learning about us ask where does ‘Make Runs Maxi’ the name come from and what does it represent.

As we have touched on in ‘The Story’ in 2017 at the beginning of this whole concept, Rulla was doing sessions as therapy, but rewind a year.

2016, Rulla was fortunate enough to coach the U/19’s Football team from his local area, Deloraine. This was where he first had some involvement with Isaac ‘Maxi’ Walters. Maxi’s uncle Malcolm was Rulla’s first Football coach and ultimately the reason why he fell in love with the game so he always felt that connection through Maxi. “I always had a bit of a soft spot for Maxi because of that, that to go along with his fearless approach to the ball, and his want to become a better player made Maxi a person/player you wanted to work with because you knew he valued what you would tell him” Rulla says.

So fast forward back to the beginning of these talks and one month into this – we lost Maxi. A tragedy that made everyone in our community realise mental health is a very real thing.

But there was always something about Maxi that keeps him relevant, his presence, determination, and mindset could never go unseen. Off the field his smile was contagious, his demeanor reflected a respectful young man raised by a beautiful family with a world full of potential he probably never knew he had nor understood. Our gift as humans to leave an everlasting impact on those around us is still shown today by Maxi.

Along with football, cricket was his other sport that Maxi really excelled in. After the week of losing Maxi, Rulla like many others was lost in disbelief. “I was just trying to find a way I could help the situation, I can still remember sitting in my kitchen saying the words Make Runs Maxi, they just clicked and made sense” Rulla says. Associating Maxi’s love for cricket with his nickname, three words that sound so simple to so many people but in-depth have so much complexity beyond measurement. Encouraging us just like in the sport of cricket when things are tough in life to continue moving forward and “Make Runs”. Simply put though it is just a way of saying to Maxi and his family that he will always be remembered.

#stayauthentic

Represents the team motto in the football team that Maxi was a part of which Rulla coached. The team is all off doing different things today, but we still stay connected through Maxi and the team motto #stayauthentic.