Te Kopa Kopa is a 17-year-old on a roll to success.
He was born with the neural tube defect Spina Bifida but it hasn’t slowed him down one bit.
Despite being in his teens he's already been selected for the U23 NZ wheelchair basketball team.
"My PE teacher asked me what I wanted to do, he came up to me and said, boy what do you want to be when you get older? I said "I don’t know" being a clueless fella. And then ever since then I ended up playing and ended up loving the game."
Not only is Te Kopa a rising basketball star, he's also a respected kapahaka performer.
His aunt Liz Kopa says he’s been on the stage since he was a pre-schooler.
"Te Kopa's been doing kapahaka since he was at Kōhanga Reo. That was a favourite of his from kohanga reo, he used to watch his brother and cousins do the pukana and the haka and he'd get out and do that. From there he’s grown into that, it’s like a second skin"
Te Kopa and his group Te Ara Whānui are now preparing for the Secondary School Kapahaka National Competition in July.
Spina Bifida affects around one in 1000 pregnancies in Aotearoa.
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