DESPITE COMPETING ON one of gymnastics’ biggest stages today, Adam Steele reckons the European Championships will feel like something of a getaway.

The 28-year-old is in Zagreb with Ireland for his eighth European Championships, but back home in Cambridge there is a rather different kind of pressure.

Steele and his wife Shannon have four children, aged from 10 to just under one, and homeschool their two eldest. “I’m a big family man,” Steele said with a smile. “So yeah, it’s a very, very busy household.”

The arrangement gives them a little more freedom when Steele’s gymnastics takes him abroad.

“We’re quite fortunate,” he remarked. “I have an absolutely fantastic wife, honestly. We juggle it, she does most of the schoolwork, she does the scheduling, and she loves to see the progress they’re making.

“So it does give us a little bit more freedom and we manage it quite well. If I have competitions, we can come away and the children can come as well.”

The kids are big fans of gymnastics, although travelling as a family unit has become more complicated as it has grown in number. “It has started to get a bit expensive,” Steele said.

“It’s no longer as simple as getting a small hotel room with one bed, and it’s a little bit difficult when you’ve got a near one-year-old screaming in the night. But yeah, it’s a fun life.

“It’s always hectic, but It’s quite easy to go to the gym and then be focused there because there’s no children around. Then it’s just me and my job, which is also my hobby.”

The decision to homeschool was primarily driven by their eldest daughter struggling in a conventional school environment. The family decided to try a different approach and Steele says the change has been transformative.

“She’s thriving now, she’s so much more focused because it’s one-to-one,” he confided. “She’s got a tutor online as well, and they make it more fun.”

Her school week includes an hour-long online class from 10am to 11am, Monday to Thursday, with subjects changing from day to day. The cost is around £2.50 per lesson.

“It’s awesome, and it’s cheap,” Steele explained. “You can choose what lessons you do, so you don’t have to attend everything, and we just cover all the other bases.”

He knows that people are curious about their education choice – last summer in Ireland, over 2,500 children were registered as being homeschooled, while in England last autumn the number was 126,000.

Steele is more than happy to answer questions about it. “It’s different, isn’t it? It’s very different,” he nodded.

“You walk into my house and there are shopping trolleys of school stuff. The only benefit is that there’s no uniform, so we don’t have to spend money on school shoes or anything like that.

“If you don’t ask the questions, then you don’t know how it works, and I will always give an honest opinion. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it’s great.”

He understands why there are concerns, particularly around the social side of homeschooling. “The kids are obviously at home all the time and people wonder about the social aspect with friends, all that stuff,” Steele acknowledged.

“But they do a lot of after-school clubs as well. They do gymnastics, they go swimming, things like that. We live on a new estate as well, so there are lots of kids around for them to play with.”

Nevertheless, he is also realistic about the challenges that will come as his children get older. His eldest daughter is moving into Year 6, meaning the academic demands will soon increase.

“We’ll see when it comes up to more important years in school with exams, where they need to learn key points,” he said. “And some awkward topics might not be taught very well by your parents!

“But we’re trying our best. It’s always going to be like swings and roundabouts. There’s always going to be good and there’s always going to be bad.”

For now, though, the system is working for the family and this week he has returned to the familiar rhythm of international gymnastics competition.

He was born in Colchester but through his father, Paschal, who hailed from Limerick, Steele has represented Ireland for over a decade.

“Crazy, right?” he laughed. “What’s not to love? There’s so much to do, so much to learn. Always trying to look for that next high.”

His personal target in Zagreb is straightforward enough. “Top of the priority list is to better myself than I ever have at any Europeans, which does become more difficult the older I get.

“All of us have got our unique qualities that we’ll help bring to the team. Hopefully I have some wisdom that they like to take on. So collectively, it should be probably one of the best teams we’ve ever put forward.”