Fourteen-year-old Carson McConnell is focused on this weekend's provincial hockey championship.

Soon, Carson – a defenseman with the Pembina Valley Bantam AAA Hawks – will have to shift his attention to where he will play hockey next season.

A decision that he says, just got a little more complicated.

"I was looking at AAA Midget,” said McConnell. “To try and work really hard over the summer and to try and make it next year would be my goal, but now I got a couple other options.”

One of those options is attending a sports school for hockey. In the past it would’ve meant leaving Manitoba and his home in Pilot Mound.

Except now, Carson could do that while staying in his hometown.

Home to a little more than 600 people, and a new arena built almost entirely by volunteers, the southern Manitoba community will soon become home to the province's only hockey sports school for boys.

"It will be good exposure for the town, it will bring a lot of dollars into the area for us,” said Pat Sutherland, the president of the Pilot Mound Recreation Complex.

“You got some kids sharing the same dream, to achieve the best level of hockey they can, and we're going to bring it up a notch," said Sutherland.

The town partnered with Fred Voser of SISEC Hockey Academy in Calgary and got approval from Hockey Manitoba to create the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy.

It will become a place where midget-age players, between 15 and 17 years old, can get their education while sharpening their on-ice skills and pursuing a dream.

"What we're actually doing is we're putting a product in place that might keep the local kid in Manitoba," said Voser.

Rod Collins grew up in Pilot Mound and will coach and manage the program.

He has coached at sports schools before—with the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Saskatchewan and also at Shattuck Saint Mary's in Minnesota, where he helped develop superstars Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews.

"His hockey knowledge is incredible and will bring great assets to the academy," said Voser.

The Pilot Mound Hockey Academy wants to compete in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League but still needs league approval.

If they don't get into that league, Voser said they will compete in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League against similar schools based in Alberta and BC.

Hockey Manitoba Executive Director Peter Woods said while there are already sports schools for girls in Manitoba, this is the first one for boys in the province.

Woods said it will give families another option.

“Anytime we have an opportunity for players to stay a little bit close to home, certainly from a family perspective and a development perspective, I think it's opportunistic to take advantage of that,” said Woods.

The academy will recruit outside the province, but their main goal is to give Manitobans a sports school closer to home.

It will cost families $26,000 to send their kids for the year. That fee includes travel, ice time, 50-60 games, strength and conditioning training and room and board (players will be billeted with local families), as well as their education.

Voser said the cost is in line with other sports schools, but more expensive than playing AAA Midget hockey.

The players at the academy will attend Pilot Mound School which is already preparing to welcome 25 new kids from the academy in the fall.

Rick McConnell said his family must now help Carson decide if a sports school would be right for their son.

"It's tough, there's a lot of pressure at this age," said Rick.

"It's really going to depend on the family and the kid, what they're looking for, if they want to leave home. There's a lot of things that come into play,” he said.

Carson wants to do whatever will take his hockey the furthest and go where scouts will see him play.

"The hockey school would probably get you a little more exposure, but AAA Midget is high in exposure too," said Carson.

Now, he has both options in his own backyard.