When injury forced Alyssa Scalera (BSM ’23, MSM ’26) to retire early from gymnastics, she wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the sport she’s loved since first hitting the mat at the age of three.

And with the help of Brock University’s Sport Management programs, she hasn’t had to.

Instead, the Hamiltonian has stuck the landing with Gymnastics Canada following graduation, building a career with the national organization she has dreamed of being part of.

Scalera had plenty to celebrate on Friday, Oct. 16, when she crossed the stage among Brock’s first cohort of Master of Sport Management graduates. The day not only recognized her academic accomplishments but also marked her professional growth as she moved into a new role as Manager, Sport Development.

“My journey in gymnastics didn’t end when I stepped off the mat; it was simply the beginning of a new way to shape the future of Canadian sport,” she says.

Scalera started her journey at Brock in the Bachelor of Sport Management program. She recalls the first day of classes when Professor Kirsty Spence asked students what they hope to be doing at the end of their four years of study.

While Scalera had once dreamed of competing nationally, she knew working for the national sport organization would provide a new way to represent Canadian gymnastics at the highest level.

That chance came during the final year of her undergraduate studies. Associate Professor of Sport Management Shannon Kerwin shared a job posting for a Sport Development Co-ordinator at Gymnastics Canada.

“It felt like fate,” Scalera says.

She landed the job in January 2023, throwing herself into the role. In 2025, as Gymnastics Canada began creating a four-year strategic plan, Scalera found herself drawn to the mechanics of it all.

“It was a very interesting process to me, to see a CEO go through a strategic plan. How to design it, how to implement it and what the steps are to do it,” she says.

The stars aligned when Brock launched its Master of Sport Management program — the first of its kind in Canada — that year. Scalera was intrigued by the program’s strategic management course, which covered how to develop strategies for national sport organizations, and decided to apply.

“One of my aspirations is to become a CEO of a national sport organization one day, so this is something that I’ll have to know,” she says.

Scalera continued to work for Gymnastics Canada part time through her master’s studies and completed a practicum project with the organization, building a national strategy framework for competitive judges. After conducting qualitative research with judges across Canada, she designed a four-year operational roadmap to professionalize Canada’s judging system and build clear educational pathways.

“I applied the skills that I learned in both the undergrad program and the graduate program and compiled project plans with many different components, reflecting the realities of the sport industry today,” she says.

In her new role, Scalera will lead the advancement of the Canadian judging system, based on the design she helped develop during her practicum, as well as work on emerging gymnastics disciplines such as parkour and acrobatic gymnastics.

“I feel more prepared than ever. The master’s program gave me a new sense of confidence in myself,” she says. “I’m looking forward to taking on this role with a new innovative lens. The confidence the program instilled in me translates to courage. With innovation, there comes risk taking, but it takes courage to embrace those risks.”