Meet the Member: Becky Tam

Where are you from and what brought you to Reno?

I grew up in San Francisco. My parents still live there in the house I grew up in.  My husband, Sam, and I moved to Reno from Shingle Springs, CA in 2015 after he retired. I retired in 2017.

We had always spent a lot of time in Reno going to the casinos, attending concerts, and enjoying different local events. We really enjoyed the Zombie Crawls around Halloween.  We decided to move to Reno because of not having to pay state taxes and a cheaper cost of living. We also enjoy skiing and hiking in Tahoe.

How long have you been a member of WTC? What WTC or USTA activities do you participate in?

I have been a member of WTC since around 2019. I participate in the bump doubles and USTA leagues out of Washoe. Recently, I played on Austin Lee’s 8.0 mixed team.

 I like to play drop-in with the men during the week. The competition is a lot of fun, plus I have become good friends with some of them.

What’s your tennis story? What got you started and what keeps you going?

I started playing tennis with friends when I was in high school. I didn’t play on a high school team, but it was just a fun way for my friends and I to hang out. We would hit tennis balls with music blasting. I didn’t start playing USTA until my children started grade school and I had more time. I enjoy the competition playing in leagues and the fun people that you meet. 

When you’re not on the tennis courts, what might we find you doing for fun?

When I’m not playing tennis, I like to play pickleball, hike, and travel. Sam and I have a campervan that we like to take out when the weather is warm. We went on a lot of cool trips this past year to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Zion National Park, Great Basin and Yosemite. My favorite trail is at Yosemite called the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail. My favorite local trail is the Emerald Bay via Lighthouse and Rubicon Trail. The views are fantastic.

In January we went on a 35 day trip to Asia. We took a cruise out of Hong Kong, sailed to the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and ended up in Singapore. Then we spent a week in Bali and a week in Japan before flying home.

I also enjoy playing golf. We live by the Red Hawk Golf Course in Sparks, so we usually play there. I’m not a great golfer, but I enjoy being on the course.

Would you like to share about your family, occupation, and pets?

I have 3 grandchildren ages 22, seven, and five. The younger ones are in Roseville, so we spend a lot of time going there to see them. 

Sam and I are both retired air traffic controllers.  I worked for 26 years before I retired. We last worked at Northern California Tracon, which is located at Mather in California. This facility handles all of the air traffic for Northern California and Reno. My area of expertise was in handling the arrivals and departures out of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and a host of smaller airports close by. I often get asked about how stressful it was. It definitely had its moments, but most of the time it was pretty routine. One of my favorite moments was working the plane that was carrying the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its last flight around California before being taken to its home in Los Angeles at the California Science Center.

Any fun plans for the upcoming summer season?

This summer, Sam and I plan to spend the month of August on the big island of Hawaii in Kona. We stayed there for four months in 2020 and really enjoyed it, plus we have made some tennis friends there.

We also plan on doing some camping in the van. We usually plan those at the last minute.

I also plan on going to Bhutan and Nepal in October for three weeks and am really looking forward to this trip.

Any other information you would like to share about yourself?

I recently started learning to play the piano. I wish I had done it when I was younger, but definitely didn’t have the time then like I do now. You’re never too old to try something new!