Beyond Grit: Composure Under Pressure Separates Good from Great

At 14, most kids are worried about homework and weekend plans. Nick Page was ripping mogul courses against the best in the world….and winning. He didn’t get there because the path was smooth. He got there because when it got hard, he refused to quit.

That same grit we saw in Nick is alive and well in today’s youth athletes. In our Resilience Self-Assessment, Back The Team athletes scored an impressive 4.28 / 5 in Persistence & Grit — far above national averages that usually land between 3.2 and 3.8. In other words, these athletes don’t walk away when training gets tough. They push through.

But grit alone doesn’t guarantee greatness. Our survey also revealed that Focus & Composure was the lowest-scoring dimension, averaging just 3.73 / 5. Compared to their exceptional grit, athletes struggled more with calming nerves before competition, staying relaxed in pressure-packed moments, and letting go of frustration after mistakes.

That gap matters. Grit is the engine, but composure is the steering wheel. Without it, athletes risk fighting hard but wasting energy, burning out, or letting emotions derail performance.

Research confirms what we’re seeing: grit develops earlier, while emotional regulation takes more time to build. That means young athletes already have the drive. But, the ones who learn composure will be the ones who unlock their full potential.

That’s where Back The Team comes in. We connect youth athletes with Olympians like Nick Page and Tess Johnson, mentors who know what it’s like to compete when the world is watching. 

They share practical tools for staying calm under pressure, bouncing back after setbacks, and letting composure elevate grit into greatness — all through storytelling and personal lived experiences.