Critics Fear Golf Program Won't Survive Soccer

MIAMI, FL — Seventeen-year-old Camilla Ariano of Miami hopped out of bed before dawn last week and then prodded her father to do the same. They were joined by dozens of other Miami area orange-shirted young people and their parents in expressing opposition to plans by Miami businessman Jorge Mas and soccer legend David Beckham to turn the only city-owned golf course into a billion-dollar soccer stadium and entertainment complex on the site of a much loved youth golf program.

They forced a delay on a key vote that would allow Miami voters to decide the fate of the Melreese Country Club as city officials prepared to take up the issue again Wednesday morning.

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Ariano and the others planned to be back too for what has become a summer civics lesson.

See also Billion-Dollar Vision For Miami Soccer and Miami Delays Decision On David Beckham's Soccer Stadium

"I started when I was six-years-old and now I'm 17," Ariano explained of the First Tee program. "I've been in that program since I was little. My brother was in that program since he was six-years-old — and now he's 21 and in college. He got into Saint Thomas because of First Tee."

Camilla's father, Rudy, was heartened by the delay and what it meant regarding the city's five commissioners.

"It's a battle but not the war. We won a battle," he told Patch. "At least we know now that there are at least three people digging for the truth, and not just trying to shove something down our throats, whether we want it or not."

Melreese is home to the popular First Tee golf program, which will have to find a new home if the soccer stadium and complex get the go ahead.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez personally negoiated a deal with the mayor of nearby Miami Springs to move the golf program there. But the Arianos and other golf enthusiasts aren't ready to give up on their fight.

"I don't believe that we need to destroy something in order to create something else. The only reason they want to do that is because of the location of the golf course," explained the elder Ariano, who is also a professional golf coach and long-time First Tee volunteer.

"It's amazing how they have helped increase the sport and how the kids come out of the First Tee being better persons," he said, adding that he would like to see the future soccer stadium complex built in another location, perhaps where State Route 836 and the Florida Turnpike meet — anywhere but Melreese.

First Tee alumnus Jiana Blaha credits the program for giving her the essential skills to succeed at American University in Washington, D.C.

"Basically the First Tee program is a youth golf program that encourages kids to be more involved in golf but also to teach them corps values of life that they can use later on," explained the 20-year-old Blaha. She told Patch that First Tee helped a number of Miami-Dade students get ready for college.

She fears that the program will not be the same if it were to move.

"No other course is going to provide what this course offers," she said holding her dog, Coco, outside Miami City Hall. "They want to move it to Miami Springs where there's a street where little kids can get hit. They want to move us to a rundown golf course. They want to move us to a place where we won't be able to play for free."

She too hopped out of bed early last week.

"I woke up my mother. I'm sure every other kid woke up their mother, set their own alarm," Blaha recalled.

Rudy Ariano said that First Tee is more than a golf program.

"When you become part of a varsity team, your grades go down," he said. "One of the things First Tee does is help kids stay up academically to prepare them for college."

Camilla Ariano added that First Tee helps student athletes like her keep up with the rigors of academic life.

"Athletics takes a lot of your time as a student," she acknolwedged. "After tournaments, I get home late and I have to stay up late studying. But, I know that I have a tutor in First Tee that I can go to in case I get stuck because I might have left my class early for a tournament and I missed the lesson."

Jiana Blaha (left) is joined by Camilla Ariano and Rudy Ariano. Photo by Paul Scicchitano.