Christian Pulisic might have been prepared to spend yet another year attending classes and roaming the hallways and swapping stories at the lunch table with the other 10th graders at Hershey High School.
And then this other opportunity came along.
In Florida.
Offered a chance to become part of the U.S. under-17 Residency Program, the remarkably talented Pulisic readily accepted the invitation, reporting with 27 others to Bradenton on Aug. 31 and beginning the training sessions several days later.
Former D.C. United and University of Virginia star Richie Williams, who made 20 international appearances for the full U.S. men’s national team, is the U-17 skipper.
Those players selected for the fiercely competitive U-17 Residency Program spend part of each day attending classes and the other part of the day honing their soccer skills and/or working on their respective fitness levels.
Pulisic, the son of former Harrisburg Heat star Mark Pulisic, is the third player from the immediate Harrisburg area to be part of the U-17 Residency Program. Defender Chase Miller of Duncannon and midfielder Colton Storm of Mechanicsburg were the others to be part of the Residency Program.
Pulisic, just over a week shy of his 15th birthday, will be the youngest player in attendance for the fall semester. His cousin, William, just a few months older, also accepted an offer to be part of the Residency Program.
William Pulisic lives in suburban Richmond, Va.
Kevin Silva of Bethlehem is the other Pennsylvanian on the U-17 roster.
Mark Pulisic said Monday that the U-17s’ first scheduled event will take place later this month in Spain. Christian Pulisic, who has had numerous opportunities to train at some of the top clubs in England, Spain and Portugal, also may spend different parts of the next year training at Holland’s noted PSV Eindhoven.
Christian Pulisic, who last month was part of the U.S. U-15 contingent that finished third at an event in Mexico, has been part of the national program for several years. He also played for the U-17 squad — and Williams — at a July tournament in Japan claimed by the Americans.
Pulisic also has been playing for Pennsylvania Classics’ U-16 entry in U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy program. Pulisic was selected to the East Conference’s First XI after netting 15 goals last season for Classics.
MICHAEL BULLOCK:mbullock@pennlive.com
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