Four Hills Athlete Development

03/29/2026

COMING SOON!
Four Hills Parent Workshop!

There is a lot of pressure around hockey tryouts.
Pressure on the kids.
Pressure on the parents.
Pressure around what team, what level, what letter.

But here’s the truth most people don’t talk about:

Very few of these kids are going to the NHL.
But every single one of them is becoming an adult.

So the real question isn’t:
“What team did they make?”
The real question is:
“What is hockey turning them into?”

This workshop is for parents who want to:
• Support their child the right way through tryouts
• Understand letter chasing (A vs BB vs B)
• Learn what coaches are really looking for
• Avoid the common parent traps and mistakes
• Focus on long-term development, not short-term teams
• Help their child build confidence, resilience, and love for the game

Because we are not raising hockey players.
We are raising future adults.
Hockey is just the classroom.

The Four Hills Way: Supporting Your Child Through Tryouts and Beyond

If you would like to see this workshop in your community, message us here or via email at jason@fhad.ca
Details coming soon.

03/29/2026

Four Hills Athlete Development will be supporting the U13 Wiikwemkoong (Wiky) Beauties at the Ayabeh Summer Challenge hockey tournament in Ottawa in July, 2026!

03/15/2026

*HOSTED IN BRANTFORD, OPEN TO PLAYERS FROM ALL ASSOCIATIONS*

Every year, a lot of families add extra ice before tryouts.

This year, Four Hills is asking a different question:

What if tryout prep also trained the behaviours that coaches notice right away?

We are exploring interest in a new Hockey Tryout Prep program built for U11/U12, U13/U14, and U15/U16 athletes. This will be a 3-session, in-class series that is play-based, activity-based, and built specifically for hockey tryouts.

This is not a PowerPoint session.
It is built around:

- confidence under pressure
- coachability
- reset routines
- leadership
- body language
- emotional control
- learning through games, activities, and real-life tryout scenarios

The goal is simple: help athletes prepare for tryouts in a different way by developing the mindset, behaviours, and responses that can shape how they show up when it matters most.

We are currently gauging interest before opening registration.

If this sounds like something your athlete would benefit from, comment below, send a message, or email jason@fhad.ca
to be added to the interest list.

03/15/2026

Good luck to all the teams representing Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory at this year’s Little Native Hockey League tournament!

The Little NHL is one of the most special tournaments in hockey bringing together communities, families, and the next generation of players to celebrate the game we all love.

Four Hills Athlete Development is proud to support the journey of young athletes across Turtle Island, and we’ll be cheering loudly for every Wiikwemkoong player hitting the ice this week.

You can also catch Four Hills Athlete Development owner, Jason Shawana, behind the bench with the U13 Competitive team, the Wiikwemkoong Bziiwag.

Play hard.
Play proud.
Represent your community.

Good luck to all the players, coaches, and families.

Video produced by Four Hills Athlete Development

03/11/2026

You can see the Four Hills coaching approach live at the Little NHL hockey tournament in Markham, Ontario next week! Four Hills owner and lead counsellor, Jay Shawana, will be coaching the U13 Competitive team from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Reserve during the tournament! Supporting kids from his home community, as they compete with pride for their community and one another!

03/03/2026

Minor sports doesn’t need louder coaches or tougher kids, it needs a values reset.
When we anchor Identity → Behaviour → Performance → Legacy, we don’t just build better athletes… we build healthier humans (and performance follows).

03/01/2026

It’s that time of year again in the minor hockey universe, and we need to start addressing something important.

As minor hockey associations start announcing their coaches, tryout season quietly begins long before the first skate touches the ice.
And with it comes the pressure, the conversations, the politics, and all the things that can distract from what truly builds a young athlete.

At Four Hills, we believe this time of year should be about growth, identity, habits, and honest effort.
Not who a parent talks to.
Not who gets “cozy” with a coach.
Not which shortcuts feel tempting in the moment.

When adults work the politics, kids lose the chance to earn something real, including confidence, pride, resilience, belief.
When we keep the process honest, they gain all of it.

So as teams take shape, let’s stand together on one thing:
Let the kids earn it.
Let the coaches coach it.
Let the ice stay honest.

02/18/2026

Most coaches talk about potential.

The best coaches raise the standard.

Your ceiling is talent.
Your floor is culture.

When adversity hits, your talent fluctuates…
but your standards shouldn’t.

Raise the floor.
Make effort non-negotiable.
Make accountability automatic.
Make culture stronger than emotion.

Championships aren’t built on best days.
They’re built on minimum standards.

01/21/2026

Even though we won’t be running spring or summer hockey teams this year, our commitment to the game and our community continues. We’re proud to be coaching and leading the Wiikwemkoong U13 Competitive team at this year’s Little Native Hockey League Tournament in Markham, Ontario during March Break.

Sponsorship opportunities are available to help support our athletes and families as they represent Wiky with pride.

01/21/2026

01/07/2026

TRAILER DROP: Hey Man, Let’s Talk

Most men don’t need more motivation.
They need space.
To say what’s real. To stop performing. To get honest without being judged for it.

Hey Man, Let’s Talk is a straight-up conversation show about the stuff we carry:
• pressure and responsibility
• relationships + fatherhood
• mental health (without the buzzwords)
• identity, purpose, and the quiet burnout nobody names
• how to actually talk like a human… not a headline

No lectures. No “toughen up.”
Just real conversations that make it easier to breathe and easier to show up better.

Listen to the trailer and answer this in the comments:
What’s one thing you wish men could talk about more openly?

01/07/2026

TRAILER DROP: On the Fly

If you’ve ever tried to juggle work, kids, rep sports schedules, marriage, sleep, health, and still remember where you left your keys… this one’s for you.

On the Fly is the real-life podcast hosted by Jason Shawana & Theresa Gillis - a bicultural family doing their best to figure it out… well… on the fly.

We’re talking:
• the chaos of sports weekends
• blended family logistics
• the quiet stress you don’t post about
• marriage moments where you lock eyes and silently ask, “Are we doing this right?”
• and the small wins that somehow keep you going

No perfection. No pretending. Just honest conversations, laughs, and practical takeaways for modern adulthood.

Listen to the trailer and drop one word that describes your life lately: “________.”