“It’s definitely a new level having New Zealand on your chest,” says Bay of Plenty basketballer Adam Blennerhassett.

The power forward will be in the first NZ Whaikaha men’s basketball team, who play in Australia this month.

The team entered the 2025 Ivor Burge Tournament in Australia, for athletes with an intellectual disability.

Blennerhassett grew up and discovered his passion for basketball in Rotorua, and now lives in Tauranga.

Rotorua was also where he survived a traumatic brain injury at age 7, after slipping and knocking his head at Lake Rotorua.

He said the injury affected his temperament and ability to make friends, and turned him into a “hermit”.

At age 11, he was at his cousin’s home in Rotokawa when he discovered basketball could be the perfect outlet for him.

“I found it was actually good for my mind and then yeah, you kind of get addicted to it after that,” Blennerhassett said.

At 29, he said he felt proud to earn a place in the New Zealand team.

Adam Blennerhassett was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury after he slipped on a rock and hit his head on a pontoon boat at Lake Rotorua when he was 7. Photo / Aleyna Martinez

“All the hard work paid off, then being able to tell my mum some good news felt great. It had been a goal of mine for a long time,” he said.

Born and raised in Rotorua, Blennerhassett was selected for the Whaikaha men’s team in November. The trials at Wellington’s Ākau Tangi Sports Centre were intense, he said.

His selection left him “emotional in a good way”.

The injury: ‘Everything went downhill’

Blennerhassett said he was walking towards the lake from his home when a rock moved under his foot and he lost his balance.

When he fell, he hit the front right side of his head on the pontoon. He was not knocked out, but his memory was affected, he said.

He was checked by a doctor but seemed okay at first. After a couple of hours, however, his eyes rolled back and he started foaming at the mouth and having seizures.

A helicopter flew him and his mum to Auckland’s Starship Hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain bleed.

It caused permanent damage, Blennerhassett said.

“One day I was a normal 7-year-old and the next day I had a lot of problems, everything went downhill.”

He said a neurologist told his parents that from then on, his brain could go “into chaos” when he was mentally overloaded.

School a ‘horrible time’

When he got home from Starship, the changes he went through were hard for other children to understand and at times they were mean, he said.

“I had seizures for many years and couldn’t control my anger.

“School was a horrible time because kids, you know, want to get a reaction out of you … there was a lot of bullying.”

he said his challenges made it difficult to maintain relationships or establish friendships.

“I was a bit passive and didn’t want to disappoint anyone, even though I wasn’t disappointing, it’s just that they were rude.”

He said he “just kept pushing through”.

Basketball got him out of his shell and he was grateful to his parents and their continued support.

“Financially, mentally, whatever I want to pursue, they support it,” Blennerhassett said.

Disability services and support organisation Mana Atea was another support system that had been vital for Blennerhassett’s mental health.

“I was just struggling to find my place in life, so I reached out to them,” he said.

Todd Maitland (left) and Adam Blennerhassett will represent New Zealand at the 2025 Ivor Burge Tournament in Australia.

Finding a happy place

At his cousin’s, using a hoop that’s “long gone now”, Blennerhassett fell in love with the game.

“I played and watched nearly every day, it just became a big part of my life.”

A fan of the US NBA league, the Los Angeles Lakers were one of his favourite teams to watch, he said.

Now living in Tauranga, he practised with good friend and teammate Todd Maitland whenever they could.

Both players were in the Tauranga Special Olympics basketball team last January when they won gold at the NZ Poitukohu Māori Basketball Nationals held in Rotorua.

Maitland was also picked to represent the NZ Whaikaha men’s basketball team in Ballarat, Victoria.

The tournament would be held from January 29 to February 2.

Blennerhassett said Maitland’s passion for the game was “the same as mine and we just play really well together”.

Heading to Australia together was a gratifying moment, he said.

Blennerhassett said when he took the court, it felt like freedom.

“There’s something about the ball swishing through that gives me a dopamine hit … There are times when I could have quit, but I’ve stuck with it,” he said.

Aleyna Martinezis a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. She moved to the region in 2024 and has previously reported in Wairarapa and at Pacific Media Network.