Footy Fanatics Coaching and Helping Heart KidsTuesday, August 9, 2022 - 3:03 PM - by Mark Readings

A pair of Perth school mates are using their love of football to help educate others about the game while raising money for charity.

Taj Martin and Max Albrecht are Year 8 students at Scotch College who’ve launched a YouTube Channel called 'Learn AFL for HeartKids', an 8-part video series that aims to teach Auskickers and those new to the game the skills of Australian Rules.

The project is doubling as a fundraiser for HeartKids, an organisation which supports and advocates for people impacted by childhood heart disease, one of the largest causes of infant death in Australia.

“One of our subjects at school is called “Community Project”, which is a service to help people in need.

Max and I wanted to create a project which involves our love of footy and create a buzz with students, along with helping kids in our local community.

I’ve been running an AFL vlogging channel on YouTube called MonTaj sports for a year and I thought it would be great to start a channel which would help teach Auskickers and others new to the game some basic skills.

"Learn AFL" is open to anyone with internet access worldwide and we hope it can act as a guide to younger footballers.

We’re also delighted to raise money for a great Australian charity like HeartKids,” Taj Martin said.

The concept has been a resounding success for the 13-year-olds.

“We’ve been blown away by the response from viewers.

The channel has been live for about a fortnight, and we’ve already raised $910 for HeartKids.

The Scotch community is so supportive, and my Sorrento Goldhawks teammates have all embraced the idea,” Martin said.

The idea to mix footy and fundraising was hatched a few years ago.

“I was invited to a HeartKids footy clinic run by West Coast Eagles midfielder Andrew Gaff, and I started to think how lucky we are to have opportunities like this.

We've also just learned that before the end of 2022, HeartKids is going to promote the channel nationally through their two AFL Ambassadors, Jaidyn Stephenson at North Melbourne and Gaff.

Some people aren’t as fortunate as us and have battles to face.

I thought merging a footy education channel with a charity would be an effective way to help people,” Martin said.

Taj’s father Joel says the two boys deserve enormous credit for the work they’re doing.

“Both Taj and Max have amazing coaches and teachers, so they’re in very good hands when it comes to having role models and developing as young men.

I'm proud of the way Taj has taken his passion of footy and merged this with a charity that will have a positive effect on members of our community,” he said.

The teenagers produced content for the Learn AFL series at the home footy in WA.

“We spent the day at Optus Stadium shooting eight videos.

Some of the titles include: “How to Kick a Drop Punt”, “How to Handpass”, and “How to Mark a Football”.

We had a lot of fun making and editing the videos because we know it’s all for a great cause.

I hope we can continue to raise money for HeartKids and motivate kids to be involved in the world’s best game,” he said.

The channel link is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOzUZ4JLjwJlgWpNdMvCceg