A CHAMPION showjumper from Somerset is 'blissfully happy' after joining an online school - which means he has more time to train. 

William Eustace, who is 13-years-old, has won the British Show Jumping Club Championships twice and he came eighth in the Spring Festival in 2023. 

With plans to progress far in his showjumping career, William's mum decided to enrol him in Minerva's Virtual Academy (MVA), which has been dubbed as 'the school for star athletes'. 

William's mum, Charlotte, said:  “With William, we’d tried mainstream school, but we just found that it wasn’t working. Despite William being such an outgoing, fun child, it never felt like the right fit, and we thought there just has to be a better way.

“That’s when we broke with convention and enrolled William with Minerva’s Virtual Academy (MVA), and I have to say, I wouldn’t want to go back.

"One of the wonderful things about online schooling is that William can ride during the day. If I look back to previous years, as soon as the clocks changed and it was dark, it was game over.

"Having the ability to take William out in the day, whether it's hacking, or training with his instructor, he’s really pushed forward.

“It’s also about the little things that it’s given us the ability to access. For example, we have an amazing eventing coach close to us that we’ve never been able to work with because he was always fully booked outside of school hours. Because William is now at home in the daytime, we’ve really been able to make the most of the expertise that we have right on our doorstep which wasn’t always possible previously.

“He’s just so happy. Blissfully happy. They’ve just done their exams, and suddenly we’ve got grades in the 70-80 percent range. Even in subjects like maths, which hasn’t necessarily been his favourite subject in the past, he’s doing brilliantly.” 

William, who is from Taunton, now only has two to three hours of live lessons per day and he can catch up with recordings if needed. 

“It’s just so much better," he said.

"With online school, there’s just more time. If I miss a lesson because of training I can catch up because everything’s recorded. The teachers are really supportive and i’ve made so many new friends.”

William has the National's in his sights this summer and he wants to compete for the National Schools Equestrian Association (NSEA).