About the Staff

Founders

Alyssa started gymnastics as a young child and has been in love with performing, observing, and teaching body movement ever since.

Although her competitive gymnastics career ended before high school, she has never left the sport of gymnastics. She has taught recreational and special needs gymnastics for over 20 years. She received a doctorate in physical therapy at UCSF and pilates education through Polestar Pilates. She is a board certified Sports Clinical Specialist, and a Pilates Method Alliance comprehensively Certified Pilates Teacher. Her area of expertise as a physical therapist is working with pediatric and adolescent gymnasts and dancers.

She sees her role as a physical therapist as one who educates the public about injury prevention, assists people in reaching their goals after injury, and guides people in improving their performance post-rehabilitation.

She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, and USA Gymnastics. She is the owner of On the Move Physical Therapy in Belmont, CA and Co-Founder of Papaya Health and the Papaya Talk podcast. Recent publication: Reliability of the gymSAFE Movement Screen to Predict Health and Biomechanical Faults in Female Gymnasts - Journal of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy - July 12, 2022.

Jessica Wickizer is an active member of USA Gymnastics as a judge, choreographer, and nationally rated coach. She began her career in high school, and after 20 years of coaching competitive teams, she maintains a relentless enthusiasm for the sport of gymnastics.

Jessica earned a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona. While in college, she was awarded three consecutive coaching awards including "Rookie Optional Coach of the Year". While living in San Francisco, she worked as both a Developmental Director and a Head Coach, and was lucky to meet Alyssa Herrera-Set and develop a shared passion for injury prevention. She has found a new gymnastics home at AZ Dynamics in Tucson as a Compulsory and Optional Coach, and as the Preschool Director.

Jessica believes that watching students develop throughout their gymnastics careers, and beyond, is the greatest reward of her profession. She is passionate about the life long benefits of this sport. Keeping our athletes healthy is the key to keeping them in the gym long enough to maximize these benefits.

Director of Operations

Ayane was competitive gymnast for 13 years and learned the importance of community through the sport. She also learned the physical and mental toll the sport may have on an individual. Through gymSAFE, she is working to provide resources for the gymnastics community to increase the longevity of healthy individuals in the sport.

After graduating from University of California, Davis with a double major in Psychology, and Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, she discovered the benefits of Pilates for gymnasts. As a Pilates Instructor, Ayane enjoys helping people rediscover the joy of movement and using movement to rehabilitate the body and mind. Additionally, she strives to introduce to young gymnasts the benefits of Pilates that she wishes she had known during her own gymnastics career. She is currently a Student Physical Therapist in UCSF/SFSU’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program furthering her understanding on rehabilitation and injury prevention.