About Us

Aliso CrossFit Coaching Staff

TRAIN ALONGSIDE THE BEST

Meet our coaching staff! These are the dedicated professionals who train our amazing athletes every day. We’ve cultivated a crew of optimistic, fun loving, and inspirational people with some serious coaching skills and amazing athletic ability.

Nolan Raffanello

Nolan is an owner & the head coach at Aliso CrossFit. He specializes in helping our athletes get fit and accomplish their goals.

Coach Nolan’s introduction to the fitness world came at an early age as he played a wide range of sports like baseball and hockey until his college years. While attending Johnson & Wales University in Providence Rhode Island, he discovered his love for strength training and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

I was always interested in training. The first time I saw Crossfit was on ESPN in 2011 following my move from Brooklyn, NY to the West Coast. When I took the leap to try my first class at ACF, I walked away completely addicted. As I grew to really love CrossFit, I found a calling to become a coach. CrossFit has changed my life in so many ways and now I want to start giving back, working with both beginners and experienced athletes.

I’m passionate about helping others achieve their goals in regards to fitness and nutrition. I believe in a high-level of honesty and ethics both inside and outside the box.

Certifications

CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
CrossFit Weightlifting
CrossFit Gymnastics
CrossFit Scaling
American Red Cross Adult & Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certification
CDC “Heads up” Concussion Training for Youth Sports Certification

Brandon Shapiro

Brandon is an owner & coach at Aliso CrossFit, who loves helping members achieve goals they never thought possible.

Helping someone who never dreamed of being able to do movements such as a pull up and then having the opportunity to help them get their first one, is one of the best feelings there is.

Coach Brandon grew up playing all different sports and played soccer in college. Looking for a way to stay physically fit, Brandon found CrossFit.

Once I started I never stopped. The accountability, camaraderie, and competitiveness had me hooked.

I love making new friends every time someone walks in our door for the first time.

Certifications

CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
CrossFit Gymnastics
CrossFit Scaling

Ryan Anderson

Ryan is an owner & coach at Aliso CrossFit. He grew up playing competitive Ice Hockey and always strived to be the fittest athlete on the ice. After High School Ryan continued his fitness journey and exercised rigorously in large global gyms, however felt he was missing something in his routine. Following a career path into Law Enforcement he started his six month academy in 2012.

“I can remember doing the Hero WOD “MURPH” on Memorial Day with my classmates and staff. I instantly realized that CrossFit training was the exercise regimen that builds better humans. I have been a member at various CrossFit boxes over the past years but when I walked into Aliso CrossFit I felt at home.”

Ryan started coaching soon after finding Aliso CrossFit. Ryan loves to share his passion of fitness and well-being with all athletes as he continues to grow as an athlete himself.

Johnna Dionisio

Johnna is coach here at Aliso CrossFit. She comes from a small town in southern Colorado where she grew up playing a variety of sports and always trying new activities. While she was earning her bachelor’s degree in General Exercise Science and Health Promotion, she began bodybuilding and competed for three years. After realizing she wanted to challenge herself based on something more than just physical appearance, she tried CrossFit, and instantly became hooked.

Johnna has been personal training people for almost a decade now and coaching a number of different types of exercise classes.

“CrossFit has changed my life and has helped me accomplish a true balance between exercise, competition, nutrition and sport.”

Roger Huff

Roger is a coach here at Aliso CrossFit. He is passionate about the sense of community, the desire to improve daily on our fitness journey, and the camaraderie amongst the athletes and coaching staff.

Though active as a young adult, wrestling throughout high school and playing ice hockey since I was a young kid, I (like many) found that life got in the way. And in no time at all found that I was no longer the athlete I once may have been.

After trying the “globo-gym” routine time and time again with little to no success, he discovered CrossFit and found that there are many like-minded people who are passionate about improving their health and fitness. The idea that constantly varied, functional movements at high intensity really are the key to improving health and fitness has been a foundation for a renewed sense of well-being and a desire to help others reach their fitness goals.

Certifications

CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
CrossFit Kids Trainer
CrossFit Gymnastics
CrossFit Scaling
American Heart CPR/AED Certified (BLS Provider)
Orange County Sheriff’s Reserve Deputy

Rodney Davis

Rodney Davis is a coach here at Aliso CrossFit and specializes in motivating our athletes to dig deep and blow past their self-imposed limits. Coach Rodney comes to us with a lifetime of athleticism.

Seeing that huge smile after setting a new personal record is what I love most about coaching our members. I really love to introduce new members to the camaraderie, community, and competitiveness that CrossFit brings out in all of us.

Since I was younger, being active has always been a part of my blood. After graduating from Cal State Fullerton in 2007, I stayed active by joining local adult basketball and flag football leagues. Yearning for new experiences, I began to “cross-train” at popular globo gyms before ultimately realizing I needed more of a challenge. At the time, I had a friend who was doing CrossFit who would always try to get me to do the workouts. After one CrossFit WOD, I quickly realized I was not as fit as I thought I was and this was the challenge I was looking for!

I joined the movement in full force and haven’t looked back since.

Certifications

CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
American Red Cross Adult & Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certification

Buster Bourgeois

At Aliso CrossFit, we firmly believe in excellence in coaching and have made it a goal to assemble a well-rounded, knowledgeable team to help our members achieve their fitness goals on top of providing a great member experience. To that end, we have the pleasure of being coached by a one of a kind, National Champion and Record Holder, in Buster Bourgeois.

I am an Olympic Weightlifting National Champion who has been involved in the sport of weightlifting since the age of 14. I’ve been a member of five International Teams, and placed second in the 2002 Pan American Games and still hold a Junior American record in clean and jerk. Some of my best lifts are a 320 lb. snatch and 410 lb. clean and jerk at a body weight of 169 lbs.

I lifted and studied under the legendary Coach Gayle Hatch for 15 years, whose program has been used by the NFL, New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, and at major universities such as Alabama, LSU, Florida, and Florida State. Additionally, I am part of Brute Strength, which is the premier programming/remote coaching team in the country. With my extensive experience on a world stage, along with Coach Hatch’s mentoring, I have a unique coaching perspective. I enjoy teaching new and inexperienced athletes as well as more advanced lifters.

Certifications

CrossFit L1 Trainer
USAW Sports Performance
CPR / AED Certified

Kyan Katsimpas

Coach Kyan comes to us from Crosstown CrossFit in Moorpark, CA and anyone who has met him will echo the sentiment that he shares in the same values and integrity that we expect at Aliso CrossFit.

I grew up in a family that encouraged competition and sport. Most of my childhood was spent playing ice hockey but as I matured, my interests broadened and I began participating in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, rock climbing, cycling and weightlifting.

I was initially talked into CrossFit by a friend and I’ve never looked back. I immediately fell in love with the way a WOD would make me feel. One hour of CrossFit made every other hour of the day seem easy. Voluntarily facing adversity on a daily basis made me mentally and physically stronger than I had ever been.

At the time, I worked on an ambulance responding to 911 calls. I frequently witnessed disease and injury directly caused by a lack of health and fitness. I then realized the best treatment for many diseases is prevention, not reaction. This ignited a passion to share and contribute to others health and fitness.

I began coaching CrossFit in late 2014 and as the years tick by, I have only become more convinced that CrossFit is much more than a fitness program. It’s a community that provides people the opportunity to develop the mindset and physical ability to accomplish anything. It’s a training methodology that can be used to compete, recover from injury or contribute to longevity. CrossFit has changed my life in so many ways, and I’m excited to share my knowledge and passion to help others achieve their goals.

Certifications

CrossFit L1 Trainer

Rick DiCarlo

Rick DiCarlo is the founder of Aliso CrossFit. He specializes in general physical fitness, nutrition, wellness, strength, and conditioning.

Although I’m a coach, I always consider myself a student first. I’m passionate about pursuing higher levels of knowledge, skills, and continuing education as a trainer and leader in our community. This helps me share the life-changing benefits of CrossFit to as many people as I can.

Rick was first introduced to CrossFit in 2006 while training with the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA. The lessons of commitment, discipline, and fitness that Rick learned in the USMC are the foundation of his coaching methods which he has developed over the years.

Prior to founding Aliso CrossFit, Rick graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics. He has served in the United States Marine Corps since 2001, both as an enlisted Marine and as an Infantry Officer, deploying to various locations throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and Iraq.

Certifications

Certified CrossFit Level 3 Trainer
CrossFit Endurance
CrossFit Movement & Mobility
USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach
U.S. Marine Infantry Officer
American Red Cross Adult & Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certification