You know the game.
Now learn how to play it.
Most athletes don't lack skill.
They freeze when the defender switches, rush the read in transition, or forget everything they drilled the moment the gym gets loud.
Coached by Ajay Gill — PACWEST Athlete of the Week · Okanagan College → UFV Cascades · 5+ years with Junior Coyotes
Cohort 1: June 29 – July 24, 2026 · 6 athletes per group · $760 CAD
They lack the connection between
how they think and how they play."
Built for athletes who want
a real plan.
The BC basketball training market has cheap camps and expensive private sessions. Almost nothing in between runs on a real curriculum. DLS was built to change that — specifically in Kelowna.
- ✓Are serious about making a team, earning more minutes, or competing at the next level
- ✓Have been training without progressing the way they expected
- ✓Want structure — a real plan, not just drills
- ✓Can handle honest coaching and high standards
- ✓Are committed to 4 weeks of consistent, purposeful work
- ✕Want casual, low-pressure sessions with no accountability
- ✕Are looking for the cheapest option available
- ✕Only want to train when you feel motivated
- ✕Are resistant to honest feedback or high standards
- ✕Expect results without consistent attendance
Skills get you to practice.
The ability to access them under pressure — that is what wins games.
Okanagan College · PacWest Conference · Kelowna, BC
Ajay Gill played college basketball at Okanagan College, competed at the PacWest Conference (CCAA), and was named PACWEST Athlete of the Week — averaging 27 points, 11 assists, and shooting 60% from the field. He went on to sign with UFV Cascades.
After a serious ACL and meniscus injury, he rebuilt completely — and that process changed how he sees development. Real improvement is not about effort. It is about understanding the gap between what you know and what you can do — and having a structured system to close it.
Closing the gap between
your mind and your game.
Most athletes train skill. Skill matters — but the gap between a skilled player and an effective player is almost never physical. It is cognitive. A player who hesitates on a wide-open catch-and-shoot has a training problem, not a talent problem. The Gap System™ is Ajay's framework for fixing that transfer — from drill to decision, from practice court to pressure.
This is the learning mind. It processes mechanics, breaks down technique, and builds understanding. Mind 1 is essential in practice. When you are learning a move, a read, or a concept — you need this mode. Most coaching happens here.
The problem: many athletes never leave it. They carry the analytical mind into games — second-guessing every decision, hesitating at the moment that matters. That is the gap.
This is the performing mind. Instinct. Reaction. Confidence without thought. Mind 2 is what separates a player who understands the game from a player who plays it. It is built through repetition, but only the right kind of repetition — structured, intentional, and applied under real pressure.
Every drill in the DLS program is designed with one question: will this translate in a game at full speed? If not, it does not make the session plan.
The assessment is not a formality. It identifies how you process information, what your game already does naturally, and where your development requires the most structure. The plan is built from that, not from a template.
Athletes who understand why they are doing a drill build confidence through comprehension — not just repetition. When you know why something works, you can apply it in situations you have never practised. That is real game intelligence.
Hesitation in games almost always comes from uncertainty, not lack of skill. When athletes truly understand their game — their strengths, their reads, their instincts — they stop thinking and start trusting. Results are shaped by effort and decision-making, not chance. That is what the program builds toward.
Every session, built around
four things.
Most training is random. A drill, a workout, a sweat. DLS runs on four pillars — built into every session, every drill, every rep. This is what makes it clear, intentional, and methodical.
Without it, no progress is possible. You can't fix what you can't see. You can't develop what you can't perceive. Awareness is the gate — the first thing we build, and the thing every other pillar runs through.
Your why. The reason you walked into the gym. Where the work is coming from. Knowing your why is more important than knowing the how — because the why is what holds up under pressure when the how gets complicated.
What this drill is for, right now. Every rep has a reason. Every session has a job. No drill makes the plan unless it has something specific it's accomplishing. Short-term clarity that compounds session over session.
What we're building toward. The first step is aimless if you don't know where it's headed. We define the path so the work compounds — so every session, every rep, every week adds up to something instead of just adding up.
Ajay Gill · Founder · Read the full essay →
The recognition
speaks for itself.
the constant.
Provincial finals in Grade 11 and Grade 12. MVP recognition both seasons. Second-place finishes that taught more than any championship would have — that success is not defined by winning, but by preparation, consistency, and performance under pressure.
That mindset did not come from basketball alone. It came from a family that immigrated to Canada and built everything through discipline, accountability, and structured decision-making. It carried through multiple serious injuries that required extended recovery — periods that demanded patience and commitment when progress was slow or invisible.
That history — the family values, the competition, the injury, the rebuild — is why DLS Academy holds the standard it does. This is not a business that appeared from nowhere. It is the result of someone who has lived this game and coaches from that place.
Why DLS exists
in this market.
What athletes
and parents say.
"You're a very knowledgeable person. Putting it in a book and letting the youth hear about the things you say would be awesome — it would improve their game by a lot. It's improved mine."
"Your jumper is going to be good in any spot on the court. It's a matter of figuring out how to get to your spots and how to set someone up before — so you can get there easily and under control. You're very good under pressure, but you rush and a defender can pick up on that. It's about learning to play slow."
"You sound like Terry Orlick. I'll be the first one to read it — make sure to sign the cover."
July 24, 2026.
Cohort 1 runs four weeks, eight sessions, sixteen hours on the floor. Eighteen athletes across three groups — Groups A and B (boys) Mondays and Wednesdays; Group C (girls) Tuesdays and Thursdays. Six athletes per group, two sessions per week, two hours each. At six, Ajay sees every rep, corrects every habit in real time, and adjusts the session to what each player actually needs. When Cohort 1 fills, the waitlist opens for Cohort 2 — starting late July 2026.
"It would improve their game by a lot. It's improved mine."— Kirat Hayer · Athlete
Apply for a Spot
A real response from Ajay within 24 hours. No automated emails. No sales sequences.
No commitment. No pressure. Just a real conversation.
Drill footage from active cohorts, rep-by-rep progressions, and the coaching cues behind each session. If it happened on the court, it ends up here.
Follow →The playing career, the ACL rebuild, and the coaching philosophy underneath DLS. Less polished, more personal — where Ajay posts as a player, not a program.
Follow →60-second skill breakdowns, pre-game reads, and real footage from DLS sessions. The content that does not fit in a longer post.
What parents and
athletes ask most.
The Gap System™ is the coaching framework behind every DLS session. It is built on the idea that most athletes get stuck in analytical thinking — processing mechanics and second-guessing decisions — during games, when they should be in a flow state. Every DLS session is designed to help athletes understand when to think and when to trust, so that what they learn in training actually shows up in competition.
Athletes between 13–18 who are serious about improving — not players looking for a casual experience. High school players preparing for tryouts, athletes who have plateaued, and players who want an honest evaluation of where their game is. Adults and post-secondary players are also considered on a case-by-case basis.
One session does not produce development. It produces one good workout. The 4-week cohort structure exists because real skill improvement requires progression — each session builds on the last. Athletes who commit to the full cohort see a fundamentally different outcome than those who train occasionally.
Six is the line where every athlete gets real attention and the group is still big enough for live competitive segments. Smaller and you lose the game context. Larger and you lose the attention. Six is the number we coach to.
Parents are welcome in the gym — not just to watch, but to understand what the program is actually doing. There is a formal midpoint check-in at week two where parents are actively invited and receive a written update on their athlete's progress. Transparency is part of how DLS operates.
One missed session per cohort can typically be made up with advance notice. More than one becomes a pattern, and this program does not absorb patterns — it responds to them. Consistent attendance is a condition of enrollment, not a preference. That expectation is stated before the first session, not discovered after a missed one.
Structure, credentials, and a clear method. Ajay Gill competed at the CCAA college level, was named PACWEST Athlete of the Week, and signed to UFV Cascades. Every session is built on four pillars — awareness, intention, purpose, and direction — so the work is clear, intentional, and methodical instead of random. The founding Cohort 1 is also being produced as a docu-series. That is not standard — it is deliberate.
The first cohort of DLS is being filmed and produced as a docu-series — the story of the program's founding group. Every athlete in Cohort 1 is part of it. Footage will be used in produced content released after the cycle completes. Future cohorts will not be the founding cohort and will not appear in this initial series. Media release forms are signed before Day 1.
Cohort 1 runs June 29 – July 24, 2026. Cohort 2 starts in late July 2026. When Cohort 1 fills, we open the waitlist for Cohort 2.
Club practice and team training are about the team. Individual skill work — your specific gap, your specific reads, your specific weapons — only happens when the focus is on you. DLS is the structured layer between team practice and personal development. Athletes I work with usually keep their other training and add this for four weeks.
Most DLS athletes are. The 4-week structure with two sessions per week is built to fit alongside team practice, not compete with it. Cohort 1 runs Monday–Wednesday for boys groups and Tuesday–Thursday for girls — calibrated to avoid most team schedules. If a specific conflict exists, we discuss it at the intake call.
Mechanics under no pressure (shooting form, footwork, ball handling). Decision-making in controlled situations (reads, pacing, finishing). And — most importantly — the gap between what the athlete understands and what they can execute when the speed picks up. The baseline is what every following session is built around.
Apply using the form on this page or DM @_dlsacademy_ on Instagram. You will receive a personal response from Ajay within 24 hours to schedule a short intake call. No commitment is required — just an honest conversation about fit.
