With an opportunity to be accepted into Bradenton Preparatory Academy at his doorstep, he could join the national U-17 soccer team.
Most school-age kids know far too well where they are going to be at this time next month.
In that respect, Colton Storm is no different from his peers. He knows he'll be in a classroom and playing sports. But there's just one caveat: Storm doesn't know where those classrooms and fields are going to be.
The incoming sophomore is getting ready to pack his bags and head to Bradenton, Fla., for the tryout camp for the U.S. Soccer U-17 men's national team.
The outcome of that tryout will determine where Storm will be taking notes come September: back at Cumberland Valley, or alongside his new national squad teammates at the Bradenton Preparatory Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
"It's different," Storm said. "I love CV, and it's a great school, but I don't want to pass up this chance. I can't tell you how excited I am for this chance."
Storm's excitement is justifiable. He was one of 20 athletes nationwide chosen to try out for 10 open spots on the U-17 team. The team is a developmental squad with the long-term goal of finding and training international-level players; the more immediate goal is qualifying for and competing in next year's Junior World Cup in Mexico.
The team also plays exhibitions against international teams and travels across the globe for tournaments.
The program's developmental track record is strong. World Cup hero Landon Donovan was among those in the program's original class in 1999, which also included longtime national standout DeMarcus Beasley.
With that level of play comes a commensurate level of intensity -- players who make the squad are enrolled in a residency program, and they live and train at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. Players split their days between training and taking classes at Bradenton Prep.
It all begins with the tryout camp.
"They said it will be mostly training and a couple scrimmages against each other," Storm said. "They will be testing us on and off the field. They want to see how we act off the field and if we are able to live on our own. On the field, they want to see if we can compete with the best."
Storm got his shot at the national team after being noticed earlier this year by U.S. Soccer scouts at the Pennsylvania Classics Tournament in Lancaster, where the center midfielder played as a member of the Eagle FC team from the HMMS -- Hampden, Monroe, Middlesex, Silver Spring -- Soccer Club.
A Monroe Twp. resident, Storm has been with HMMS since he was 5 years old. He's now taking his game to the national level, and that comes as no surprise to his club coach, Gino DiFlorio.
"He's one of our leaders and one of our captains," DiFlorio said. "His work rate is second to none. Everybody feeds off of him on the field. ... Our club is definitely proud of him for getting this opportunity, and we wish him the best."
The national team tryouts will be held Aug. 16-23. Storm will then come home after the camp, where he'll have to bide his time while he finds out if he made the cut. Storm said U.S. Soccer representatives have told him the wait will be five days or less.
"I'll be nervous, especially if I think I did badly," Storm said. "If I think I did well, it will be all I'll think about. That's going to be a long wait either way."
Should he not make the cut, Storm does have another national-level plan in the works: He is part of an Olympic Development Program squad that won the regional title earlier this summer, securing a spot in that program's national championships next spring in Arizona.
