Hanscom cost analyst chosen for AF tennis team

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  An Air Force Life Cycle Management Center cost analyst here will represent the Air Force at the 2016 Headquarters Allied Air Command Tennis Championship at Decimomannu Air Base on the Italian island of Sardinia, later this month.

Second Lt. Natasha Rizvi, who works in the Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorate, is a 2015 graduate of the U.S. Air Force academy, where she was recruited to play tennis.

“It’s a huge honor to represent the Air Force on the women’s tennis team,” said Rizvi, who is the winningest player in academy history with 170 combined wins in singles and doubles. “This is an amazing opportunity to continue playing a sport that I’ve been playing since I was 10 years old.”

Rizvi joins five others on the women’s Air Force team, four of whom were teammates while she was at the academy. The team will compete with the men’s team against other Air Force national teams.

Among those competing alongside Rizvi on the Air Force tennis team are two other LCMC company grade officers: Capt. Tahlia C. Smoke, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and 1st Lt. Ryan B. Fyfe, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

The men’s and women’s team will first participate in a tennis camp in Germany, Sept. 14 through 18, before traveling to the Italian air base in Sardinia, Sept. 19 through 23, for the tennis championships.

While at the academy, Rizvi earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. During her senior year, she was the women’s team captain and most valuable player. She also earned all-conference honors in singles and doubles.

Among the other colleges to recruit Rizvi, who ranked in the top three in Texas while in high school, were Southern Methodist University, Johns Hopkins University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

“I decided to attend the academy and it was the best decision I ever made,” Rizvi said, who graduated with a management degree. “I’m a huge advocate of the college experience, specifically at the academy while participating in sports.”

Air Force athletes selected for the specialized sports training program participate in trial camps or department-level Air Force championship events.

According to the Air Force Sports website, trial camps are short, but physically demanding, mentally challenging and highly competitive.

“We have some amazing Airmen representing the Air Force on this tennis team, I look forward to competing with them against other Air Force national teams,” Rizvi said.