Counsellor Profile

Jason Shawana, BiSW, RSW
Founder | Counsellor | Athlete Development Practitioner
Registered Social Worker – Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Jason Shawana is a Registered Social Worker, former high-performance hockey player, coach, community leader, and founder of Four Hills Athlete Development, a Brantford-based practice focused on helping athletes succeed in sport without losing themselves in the process.

Four Hills was built from Jason’s belief that athletes need more than skill development to reach their next level. They need identity, emotional regulation, confidence, behavioural standards, healthy support systems, and the ability to understand who they are when pressure, challenges, competition, and expectation show up.

Jason holds a Bachelor of Indigenous Social Work, with minors in Psychology and Indigenous Healing and Wellness. His professional work blends social work practice, athlete development, youth leadership, behavioural growth, emotional intelligence, and sport experience into a practical approach for athletes, families, teams, coaches, and associations.

A Practice Built From Lived Experience

Jason’s work with athletes is not theoretical from a distance. He has lived inside competitive sport environments as a player, coach, parent, and practitioner.

As a hockey player, Jason played AAA hockey, was drafted by the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League, and later played at the Junior B and Junior C levels.

That experience matters because Jason understands the parts of sport that do not always show up on a scoresheet: the pressure to perform, the fear of mistakes, the politics of selection, the weight of family expectations, the identity crisis that can happen when sport becomes too much of who you are, and the quiet emotional load athletes often carry alone.

His own story also shapes the mission of Four Hills. Jason walked away from hockey due to family expectations and a lack of internal tools to be successful and pursue his dreams, and this now informs his commitment to helping athletes build the mindset, identity, and support systems they need to thrive.

Community Leadership and Youth Development

Alongside Four Hills, Jason serves as Executive Director of NPAAMB Indigenous Youth Employment & Training, where he leads programs and services supporting Indigenous youth in building identity, skills, confidence, and meaningful pathways forward. NPAAMB is an organization that provides employment and training supports for urban Indigenous youth between the ages of 15 and 30, serving individuals, employers, and training institutions across Southern Ontario.

This leadership background gives Jason a broader lens than sport alone. His work is rooted in youth development, systems awareness, culturally responsive practice, resilience, identity, and community connection.

In a 2026 CareerWise article, Jason describes a resilient-focused practice that acknowledges trauma and colonial impacts without allowing trauma to become the only story told about Indigenous youth. The article frames youth not as problems to manage, but as capable navigators who deserve better tools, stronger relationships, and more supportive environments.

That same philosophy is central to Four Hills.

Athletes are not broken.
They are not projects.
They are young people carrying pressure, possibility, gifts, habits, stories, and survival strategies.

The work is to help them understand what they carry, strengthen what serves them, and reshape what gets in the way.

The Four Hills Counselling Approach

Jason’s counselling style is grounded, relational, direct, and practical. He works with athletes and families in a way that connects emotional wellness to real-life performance environments.

The work may include:

• Emotional regulation

• Confidence development

• Identity development

• Performance anxiety

• Mistake recovery

• Behavioural reflection

• Communication skills

• Parent-athlete relationship support

• Team conflict

• Leadership development

• Tryout stress

• Injury and setback adjustment

• Motivation and burnout

• Pressure from coaches, parents, peers, or self

• Transitioning between levels of sport

• Navigating challenges, cuts, role changes, or reduced ice time

Jason’s approach integrates social work theory, systems thinking, ecological perspectives, behaviourism, cognitive behavioural strategies, identity development, and relationship-based practice.

At Four Hills, performance is never treated as separate from the person.

The question is not only:

How do we make this athlete better?

The deeper question is:

Who is this athlete becoming, and what support do they need to show up well under pressure?

What Athletes Can Expect

Athletes working with Jason can expect a space that is honest, supportive, and focused on growth.

Sessions are designed to help athletes better understand:

• Who they are beyond their sport

• What happens to them under pressure

• How they respond to mistakes

• What behaviours help or hurt their performance

• How their thoughts, emotions, body language, and choices connect

• How to build confidence through action

• How to communicate more clearly

• How to become more accountable without becoming more ashamed

• How to handle tryouts, cuts, conflict, pressure, and disappointment

• How to lead themselves before trying to lead others

Jason’s work is especially helpful for athletes who are talented but inconsistent, hard on themselves, struggling with confidence, emotionally reactive, withdrawn under pressure, dealing with sport politics, or trying to make the jump to a higher level.

What Parents Can Expect

Parents are often trying to help, but sport can make even good parents lose perspective.

Jason supports parents in understanding how to become part of the athlete’s support system without becoming another source of pressure.

Parent work may focus on:

• Healthy post-game conversations

• Supporting athletes through tryouts

• Responding to cuts or disappointment

• Reducing pressure at home

• Understanding motivation and burnout

• Managing parent identity in sport

• Navigating coach concerns appropriately

• Helping athletes take ownership

• Knowing when to push, when to pause, and when to listen

• Separating the child’s development from the parent’s hopes, fears, or frustration

The goal is not to remove parental investment. The goal is to make that investment healthier, clearer, and more useful.

What Coaches and Teams Can Expect

Jason also works with coaches, teams, and associations to strengthen culture, communication, leadership, and behavioural standards.

This work may include:

• Team culture development

• Leadership group development

• Behaviour standards

• Parent education

• Coach consultation

• Bench language

• Psychological safety

• Player accountability

• Emotional regulation under pressure

• Conflict repair

• Tryout preparation

• Mid-season recalibration

• End-of-season reflection

Jason’s sport background allows him to speak the language of coaches, while his social work background allows him to see the emotional and relational systems underneath team performance.

This is where Four Hills is different.

It is not just about motivation.
It is not just about mental toughness.
It is not just about “working harder.”

It is about building athletes, families, teams, and sport environments that can hold pressure without falling apart.

An Affirming and Inclusive Practice

Four Hills is an affirming space for youth, families, and athletes of all identities, including LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit athletes.

Jason’s work recognizes that athletes do not leave their identity at the dressing room door. Culture, family, gender, sexuality, race, community, trauma, confidence, belonging, and lived experience all shape how an athlete shows up.

Four Hills honours the full person.

Because when athletes feel seen, supported, and challenged in the right ways, they are more likely to grow.

Growth Beyond the Game

Four Hills Athlete Development was created for athletes who want more than surface-level performance support.

It was created for the athlete trying to make the next level.
The parent trying to support without taking over.
The coach trying to build culture without losing accountability.
The team trying to become more than a collection of talent.
The young person trying to figure out who they are inside and outside of sport.

Jason’s work sits at the intersection of counselling, sport, identity, behaviour, and community.

Because the best athletes are not only skilled.

They are grounded.
They are accountable.
They are resilient.
They know who they are.
And they know how to show up when it matters.