Young Australia League

The Young Australia League (Inc) (YAL) is an Australian youth organisation which was formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1905 by Jack Simons and Lionel Boas. Developed as a means to encourage Australian nationalism and patriotic values, the organisation organises activities and the ideals of "Education through Travel", the aims of its founders.

Simons was secretary of the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) between 1905 and 1914, and believed that the encroachment of soccer, rugby and other "non-Australian" sports was threatening the game of Australian rules football. Along with several prominent Western Australians including Lionel Boas, the Young Australia Football League was formed in 1905 as a development organisation for football in Western Australia. The League organised intra- and interstate tours for young Western Australian football players to promote the Australian rules football code as part of a broader nationalist agenda. Other people involved with the establishment of the League were prominent Western Australian artists H. H. Eastcourt and Arthur Clarke, and noted Victorian artist Robert Prenzel.

Shortly afterward, the YAFL changed its name to 'Young Australia League', and its activities were diversified to include literature, debating, band music, sport and theatrical performances, as well as outdoor pursuits such as hiking and camping. Setting its activities mainly for boys, the League promoted a philosophy of development of Australian nationalism with the aim of becoming the 'largest boys club in the British Empire'. In 1909 the League had its first of many interstate tours, with overseas tours conducted in 1911, 1914, 1925 and 1929.

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