Leo Clubs were started back in 1957 in Pennsylvania USA by Lion member Jim Graver.
At the time Graver, an active member of the Glenside (Pennsylvania) Lions Club, was coach of Pennsylvania’s Abington High School baseball team.
He and fellow Lion friend, William Ernst, had the idea of creating a high-school service club. As Ernst put it in an article published in "The Evening Bulletin" on October 7, 1976: “Kiwanians had their Key Clubs and Rotarians had their Wheel Clubs (later to become the Interact Club)".
So they asked local Lions friends for help. The Glenside Lions immediately agreed a youth Lions group was a great idea, and so Graver and Ernst set to work.
The whole baseball team attended Jim’s first meeting. Nine sophomore students, freshers and seniors also joined the initial group of 26 baseball players.
Together the 35 adolescents formed a club. On December 5, 1957, the Glenside Lions presented the Constitution of the Abington High School Leo Club. As the first of its kind in the world, the group chose their name from the acronym Leo: “Leadership, Equality and Opportunity”. Later “Equality” would be dropped in favour of “Experience”. The school colours – gold and brown – were also chosen for the Leo Club.
Although the Abington Leos remained the only youth service club until 1963, by 1964 there were 27 Leo Clubs in Pennsylvania and one in New York. The turning point came in 1967 when the spread of young member clubs led the Board of Lions Clubs International to adopt officially the Leo Club Programme as part of the Association’s own programme. Open to men and women, the aim of the Leo Club Program was – and still is:
“...to provide the youth of the world (with) an opportunity for development and contribution, individually and collectively, as responsible members of the local, national and international community."
As of 1968, new Leo Clubs were required to apply to International Headquarters for certification. On October 17, 1969, the Abington High School Leo Club lodged an official request for certification and so the very first Leo Club in the world became formally recognized as part of the International Leo Programme. Leo John Hebert from Baederwood became the Abington High School Leo Club’s first President.
Leos on the Old Continent and in Italy
The Leo Club program was not long in crossing the Atlantic. In Italy, two groups were started. The first in 1966 in Catania, Sicily, was the “Giovani Lions Catania”, founded by Lucio Vacirca. The second was started in Palermo in 1968. These youth groups were not, however, the first official LEO clubs in Italy since initially they were unwilling to join the Leo Club association. The first Leo Club to receive its charter in June 1969 was the Arenzano group near Genoa. Next came the Albenga Club (near Savona) on November 18, 1969. The Albenga Leos can claim a special record: that of being the first – and still only – club to received its charter on the very same day as its sponsoring Lions Club! Then came the Palermo Leos, officially received on November 14, 1969.
From 1970 onwards, the Leo Programme spread rapidly throughout Italy. By 1973 there were 10 Clubs in District 108 Ia, 2 in district 108 ib, 2 in 108 T, 18 in 108 L, and 11 in 108 Y for a total of 43 Leo Clubs with some 1078 members.
As young Leos felt the need to exchange information and become acquainted, Vincenzo Di Bella, President of the Leo Clubs Committee of District 108 Ia organized the 1st National Meeting of Leo Clubs in Rapallo in the spring of 1974. The following month, again thanks to the drive of Di Bella, the 22nd National Lions Congress in Sanremo approved a new Standard Constitution for Leo Clubs. The significant growth of Clubs and members heightened the need to come together, exchange views and experience, and discuss common issues. These meetings have sparked countless initiatives. The National Conference at Loano in 1995 marked the beginning of the Multi-district, the national body coordinating individual districts. The Multi-district became operational in July 1996.