In 1957, Coach Jim Graver started the Leo ball rolling. Chances are, that ball was a baseball. Graver was the coach of the Abington High School, Pennsylvania, USA, baseball team. Graver was also an active member of the Glenside, Pennsylvania, Lions Club.
With fellow Lion, William Ernst, Graver talked about starting a service club for high school boys. So they asked their fellow Lions for support. Without hesitation, the Glenside Lions agreed that a Lions youth group was a good idea. Graver and Ernst set to work.
On December 5, 1957, the Glenside Lions presented a charter to the Abington High School Leo Club whose members were mostly made up of the high school's baseball team.
As the world's first Leo club, the group created the Leo acronym - Leadership, Equality, Opportunity (Equality was later changed to Experience.) And, the group chose maroon and gold - their school colors - to serve as the Leo club colors.