After a nightmare season with Brisbane Roar, in which the club managed just four victories to finish second from bottom on the ladder, Young can be forgiven for wanting to get far away from the sport and just work on his tan.
Instead the keeper will travel to the tiny south Asian country and use football as a vehicle to bring people together and improve the lives of children.
Young has been involved with the Australian charity World Youth International for some time and later this month he will travel to Nepal to visit the international school they run there.
The 33-year-old will spend a week in the land-locked nation as the school plays host to a new football tournament named in his honor.
“I’ve been involved with a couple of charities over the years and I’ve always heard that Nepal is quite a fascinating place,” he told The World Game.
“I like to study culture as much as I can. So I think it was a great opportunity, to not only go there, but to impact people in that region too.
“It’s all part of my learning and I’m happy that I get to help people who love football. They’re going to have the Jamie Young Cup.
“They’ve actually got a big cup – it looks a lot better than the A-League toilet seat. I don’t know who designed that but they’ve had a shocker.
“I don’t think the people out there have a lot so football gives them a sense of belonging and acceptance with their peers. It gets them exercising as well and gives them a bit of competition, I think young kids love that.
“And football is the national sport in Nepal, unlike Australia, so it sort of fit the bill for them. I’m really excited to see what it’s all about over there.”
Young said he was motivated to get involved after being inspired by a special talk given by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA).
“I saw a speaker in Melbourne from the PFA induction, he talked about his trip close to Nepal, in India,” he said.
“He spoke about the culture there and how the people there perceive life. I think this might be a similar sort of experience for me.
“The talk the speaker gave was quite pivotal in my development as a person and made me sort of be a bit more grateful in my life as well and open my eyes to life outside that footballing bubble.”
Despite Brisbane Roar’s struggles on the pitch, Young was named as the club’s player of the season for the second year in a row and was ranked third in the competition for saves.
He admits it was a tough campaign but believes there is hope for the season ahead.
“Obviously the season was difficult with John’s [Aloisi] transition out of the club and with Darren [Davies] taking over and a lot of player’s off-contract,” Young said.
“So there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the club. But I think with the appointment of Robbie Fowler there’s a lot more direction and now that the club can use that platform to build for the future, and the long-term future as well.
“It was difficult. Of course we want to be up there with the likes of Victory and Sydney FC, unfortunately it wasn’t the case this year. It was challenging mentally because it’s tough to come in losing games.
“But it never stopped me trying to perform at my best. I like to think I still gave my best for the club and I firmly believe that.
“I take conceding goals personally because of my position and I spent a lot of the season soul-searching looking at how I can perform at my best.”
