SQUASH TOURNEY COURTS FUNDS FOR DARE PROGRAM

Some of the world's top-ranked squash players are in Santa Barbara this
weekend to raise money for a county anti-drug program.

The DARE/Santa Barbara Open Squash Championship, now in its sixth year, is
the primary fund-raiser for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Run in county
schools by the Sheriff's Department, DARE encourages kids to make good
choices by teaching them about self-esteem, responsibility, decision-making
and consequences.

The three-day championship got under way Friday and continues through Sunday
at the Santa Barbara Athletic Club. This year the tournament features newly
crowned World Professional Squash Champion Peter Nicol, 26, of Scotland,
along with three other world ranked professionals and four of the top 10 pro
players in the U.S.

In the last six years, the championship has blossomed into a significant
event that draws sports fans as well as those curious about a game that
looks like a hybrid of tennis and racquetball, but is described by some as
"chess on legs."

An underlying theme in all DARE's lessons, simply put -- be good to yourself
- -- provides the perfect backdrop for hosting a sporting event as a DARE
fund-raiser, said Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Fred Olguin.

"Sports are basically about having sound mind and body, and that's what DARE
teaches too," said Olguin, himself an avid squash player.

In 1993, as an adjunct to Semana Nautica and part of the Head International
Grand Prix Squash Tour, the Athletic Club hosted a celebrity open with help
from the Deputy Sheriff's Association. When it came time to plan for 1994,
event organizers agreed a change was in order and the DARE/Santa Barbara
Open Squash Championship was born.

"We decided that if we were going to put on an event of this caliber, it
would be nice to do it for a good cause," said club general manager Julie Main.

"Now it's basically an invitational," she said, "where we get to pick and
choose who comes. We tell them they get to come to Santa Barbara for a
weekend, and raise money for DARE, and they pretty much beat our door down."

Nicol, Alex Gough and Chris Walker are three such players. World ranked Nos.
1, 9 and 15, respectively, they are all pro squash tour veterans who say the
Santa Barbara Open is one of their favorite events of the year.

"One of the best reasons for doing this tournament is what it's for," said
Nicol. "We travel a lot and see the damage caused by drugs, especially in
young people. They didn't have to make much of a pitch to get us here."

Even world class athletes have been ravaged, even killed by drug use,
Walker, 32, a native of England, pointed out regrettably -- rendering
programs like DARE even more vital.

In the tournament's first five years, more than $65,000 was raised for DARE
in Santa Barbara County. The Sheriff's Department and the Athletic Club are
hoping to hit the cumulative $100,000 mark by the end of this weekend's
event. Proceeds from the tournament are derived from a combination of
sources: player entry fees, tournament and raffle ticket sales, a weekend
auction, an evening barbecue, advertising revenue and donations.

"Basically the DARE program lives off this tournament," said Lt. Mike
Burridge of the Sheriff's Community Resources Bureau. "The money is used to
buy materials for the kids, or little extras like field trips."

The DARE program is geared specifically towards fifth and sixth graders, but
its activities often overlap and touch all grade-school children throughout
the year. As many as 20,000 students countywide have contact with DARE every
year, according to the Sheriff's Department.

F.Y.I. The 6th Annual DARE/Santa Barbara Open Squash Championship,
co-sponsored by the Deputy Sheriff's Association, SB Athletic Club and the
Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, continues all weekend at the club, 520 Castillo
St. Seating is very limited. Tickets are $15 a day. For more information,
call the club at 966-6147.