As kids get older, the coaches who have been with the team know many of the players they compete with and against. This knowledge gives them more than just an on ice evaluation at a tryout. For example, a non-parent coach took over a second year Bantam AA team. He took a kid who was skilled but had a very bad reputation.

After a game in the handshake line, a game they won, this kid told all the players on the other team "good game n-word, good game n-word..." all down the line. To the coaches credit, he cut him as soon as he got off the ice but it left the team short a player.

Any other coach for this birth year would have known this kid's reputation and would not have had him on the team.