The school is found in violation of recruitment rules but allowed to retain the Class B crown.

AUGUSTA – Fryeburg Academy was ruled in violation of the Maine Principals’ Association recruitment policy, but sanctions did not include revoking the Class B state championship won by the team this winter.

A report prepared by Lincoln Academy Head of School Howard Ryder was presented to the MPA’s Interscholastic Management Committee Thursday morning and was unanimously accepted by the board after two hours in executive session.

“They were found in violation,” said MPA Executive Director Dick Durost. “They will receive a letter of admonition, and their boys’ ice hockey team will be put on probation for one year, which happens to be the maximum period of time allowed under policy. Those are the sanctions, and the state Class B ice hockey championship was not removed.”

Fryeburg Academy officials had met with Ryder and approved the report and its recommendations. The school was still unsure how the vote would go Thursday and weren’t aware of the reports’ approval until being contacted by the Sun Journal Thursday afternoon.

“We had an idea (about the recommendation), but we didn’t know what would happen when the committee met,” said Fryeburg Athletic Director Charlie Tryder. “Obviously, we would have liked it to go 100 percent in our favor. We were in on the discussions and so forth. So we can’t be real unhappy.”

Ryder had reviewed the circumstances around a recruiting trip at a hockey school last summer and MPA policy, which attempts to make a distinction between recruiting students and recruiting athletes. Ryder determined that Fryeburg’s intent was to recruit students and not athletes. Therefore, the sanctions were reasonable for the violations determined.

“The policy gave me some suggestions to follow, and I followed all of them to the point just short of taking the state championship away from them,” said Ryder.

The issue revolved around Fryeburg’s visit to a the Allen Andrews Hockey Growth School at Slemon Park in Prince Edward Island. Hockey Coach Fred Apt and Tryder were there to present information on Fryeburg Academy during a boarding school fair. Four students eventually enrolled at Fryeburg. Three students were integral parts of the Raiders’ state championship team in just the third year of the program.

“What was problematic for me was the fact that Fryeburg Academy was in attendance at an ice hockey improvement school recruiting students for the school,” said Ryder. “They presented to me that they were there to recruit students and defended that in my eyes. To the rest of the world, if you’re recruiting students at an ice hockey improvement school, it would very much look like your recruiting ice hockey players.”

It can be a difficult distinction to make when it comes to private schools. Fryeburg Academy and institutions like it rely on recruiting students, but in instances like this, it can be a tricky balancing act. Ryder recommended that policy be revisited and similar events be prohibited in the future. Also, the MPA would need to meet regularly with the Maine Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) to review policies and clarify issues for the private schools.

“I think both parties worked hard,” said Tryder. “The most important piece in all this is that the MPA and the MAIS wil hopefully clarify the rule. That’s the most positive thing.

Ryder has been the head of school at Lincoln Academy for 10 years and was at Foxcroft Academy for 14 years prior to that. His knowledge of how independent schools work was critical to his selection for the task. He interviewed administrators, coaches and students and reviewed admission records.

“I went there trying to understand what my interpretation of recruitment was and what their intentions were in trying to get kids to apply and come to their school,” said Ryder. “The only problematic piece was they were doing it at a hockey improvement school. So the appearance was what was in violation.”

Some MPA policies have clear cut penalties, such an using ineligible players is an automatic forfeit. The recruitment policy has a variety of options depending on the degree of the infraction.

“It’s an inexact science,” said Durost. “It’s trying to match the severity of the offense with the list of severity’s of consequences. The committee felt (Ryder) did a wonderful job of investigating and trying to come up with a reasonable resolution for it.”