The Maine Principals’ Association sent Fryeburg Academy to the penalty box Thursday, but the Raiders’ hockey program avoided a major misconduct call.

The MPA closed its investigation into possible recruiting violations by Fryeburg Academy’s hockey team by unanimously accepting a report that found Fryeburg in violation of the MPA’s recruitment policy.

After meeting for two hours Thursday, the 11-member interscholastic management committee endorsed investigator Howard Ryder’s recommendations that Fryeburg be placed on probation for one year and receive a letter of admonition. The school will not have to forfeit its 2004 Class B state hockey title, despite the fact that Ryder found three of the four Canadian student-athletes on the team whose presence prompted the investigation were indeed improperly recruited.

The Raiders defeated Eastern Maine champion Orono 7-4.

The investigation stemmed from a boarding school fair in Prince Edward Island last fall that was attended by hockey coach Fred Apt and athletic director Charlie Tryder. The problem was that the fair was part of the Allen Andrews Hockey Growth School. They set up a table providing information to anyone attending the fair and/or hockey school.

Four attendees of that hockey school ended up enrolling at Fryeburg last fall and three of them were regarded as Fryeburg’s best hockey players.

“What muddies the waters is that private schools, by their nature, must recruit students,” said Dick Durost, the MPA’s executive director. “The fine line is between recruiting students, which is acceptable, and recruiting athletes, which is not.”

If the fair had not been located at a hockey school, Fryeburg’s officials would have been on solid ground.

“The very fact that the recruiting of students was being done at an ice hockey school of improvement is what is problematic for me,” said Ryder, head of school at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, in his committee report. “One could argue whether the school was recruiting students or athletes … I believe in my heart, that Fryeburg did have noble intentions and did not knowingly violate what they believed to be the rules.”

It was that belief by Ryder that spared Fryeburg the loss of its state title – the most severe penalty the MPA could levee.

The one-year probation does not prohibit Fryeburg’s varsity sports team from participating in postseason play.

“It means they will have to stay completely within all rules and any violations will be met with severe consequences,” Durost said. “It essentially means they’ve been placed on notice.”

Although this is the first violation of the MPA’s recruitment policy since it was revised two years ago, Durost said it doesn’t necessarily mean the frequency of abuses have gone down.

“It’s a lot more specific than it used to be,” Durost said. “But there’s still a lot of question and concern as to whether recruitment is going on.”

Durost said although this incident should serve as an example to better define violations to other schools, the MPA will further clarify the language pertaining to attendance of high school officials at any kind of sports camps.

“I think the bottom line is if there’s any question in the minds of school officials about possible recruitment issues, they should call us,” said Durost.