The Secret Skill Scouts Don’t Talk About: Grit Over Glam
By Coach Lee | DasherDadHockey.com
“Where parenting, hockey, and humor come together”
🎯 Spoiler Alert: You Don’t Need to Be the Flashiest Person in the Room
If you think the secret to success is some magic drill, elite clinic, or TikTok-famous toe drag... think again.
This article isn’t about highlight reels.
It’s about what’s left when the spotlight turns off.
Grit.
That do-it-again, bite-your-mouthguard, clean-the-toilet kind of toughness.
It’s not pretty.
It’s not popular.
But it outlasts all the glitter and glory.
🤡 Flash vs. Finish (Expanded)
Here’s what glam looks like:
One big goal in a meaningless tournament.
A perfectly edited video with slo-mo celly music.
A job title that sounds cool but means nothing (“Brand Storytelling Ninja” anyone?).
A player who dominates until they’re challenged—then folds like a paper straw in a Slurpee.
And here’s what grit looks like:
The 5'8" wrestler who goes up against the kid who looks like he bench-presses Buicks—and doesn’t back down.
The volleyball player who misses three serves in a row and still calls for the ball on match point.
The mid-level sales rep who gets told “no” 72 times this quarter but still follows up with a positive tone.
The hockey player who blocks a slapshot with their ribs and skates back like it was a mosquito bite.
That’s grit.
You won’t always find it on the leaderboard—but you’ll always find it on winning teams.
🧪 Grit > Talent: Proven
Research from the U.S. Military Academy shows that grit predicts who makes it through West Point’s brutal “Beast Barracks” better than IQ, GPA, or fitness scores【1】.
Translation:
The mentally tough cadet who kept going beat out the genius who cracked under pressure.
This is true across every arena:
In sports: Late bloomers often outperform early stars because they had to work harder for longer.
In business: Most successful entrepreneurs failed multiple times before they hit.
In parenting: The calm, consistent parent (yes, you trying to survive 10U spring travel) will raise a stronger kid than the one chasing perfection.
🧠 Grit in Real Life: Expanded Examples
📚 School:
A kid who struggles in math but goes to tutoring twice a week and pulls a B+? That’s grit.
The valedictorian who melts down after their first B? All glam, no gear.
🏀 Sports:
The basketball player who never starts but stays late every practice? Coaches love that kid.
The tennis player who comes back from 0–6 to win the third set 7–5? That’s a college coach’s dream.
💼 Business:
The entry-level intern who keeps showing up early and fixing problems before they’re noticed? Future boss.
The Instagram life coach with 1 million followers but zero delivery when clients ask real questions? That’s just noise.
🧍♂️ Everyday Life:
The mom who didn’t sleep last night but still packed lunch, paid bills, and made it to work without throat-punching anyone? Legend.
The dad who watched his kid lose 7–0 and still smiled on the ride home? MVP.
Grit is all around us. It’s just quiet.
It doesn’t wear designer gear or film itself working out.
It just works.
⚙️ Grit Is Not Just Showing Up—It’s HOW You Show Up
Let’s be real:
Showing up late and complaining? Not grit.
Posting your goals online and quitting in a week? Not grit.
Doing the work, in silence, when no one’s clapping? Grit.
Grit means:
You miss the cut. You come back stronger.
You get benched. You keep cheering.
You fall behind. You find another gear.
Grit means doing the things that don’t get noticed—until one day, they do.
🧰 How to Build Grit (For Kids & Adults Alike)
Here’s your no-BS training plan:
🧱 1. Stack Tiny Wins
Forget giant goals. Build small habits:
“Make your bed.”
“Do 10 pushups.”
“Read 2 pages.”
“Send the awkward follow-up email.”
The more you show up, the easier showing up gets.
🔁 2. Build Bounce-Back Speed
Gritty people aren’t unshakeable—they just recover faster.
You messed up? Own it.
Lost the client? Learn from it.
Got outplayed? Shake their hand and train harder.
Every failure is feedback. Use it.
🥵 3. Do One Thing You Don’t Feel Like Doing Every Day
Call it your “grit rep.”
Don’t want to stretch? Do 5 minutes.
Hate cold calls? Make one.
Tired? Show up anyway—at 80% if you have to.
It’s not about motivation.
It’s about movement.
🧼 4. Stop Making Excuses for Your Kid
Every time you blame the coach, the ref, the ice, the sun glare, the phase of the moon—you take a grit rep away from your kid.
Let them sit. Let them lose. Let them learn.
And then?
Let them grow.
🏁 Final Buzzer
Everyone wants to be great—until it’s time to grind.
Flash will get you followers.
Grit will get you future.
Flash might get you likes.
Grit will get you legacy.
So whether you're trying to raise a strong athlete, build your own resilience, or just survive another week of adulting...
Choose grit.
Not because it’s sexy.
But because it sticks.
📚 Sources:
[1] Duckworth, Angela. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner, 2016.
[2] Kelly, D.R. et al., “Predicting Performance and Persistence at West Point,” Journal of Research in Personality, 2014.
Thank you for reading!
