A surprise Paralympics debut puts a business venture on hold for a member of the Wheel Blacks

New Zealand’s Barney Koneferenisi earned a shock last minute call-up to his first Paralympics in July which meant he had to put his groundbreaking new business project on hold while he realizes a dream he’s had since his childhood.

The Samoa-born number 23 was not aiming to be selected for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics as he was preoccupied with his impressive plan to launch a ride sharing app for what he describes as marginalized groups such as disabled people, women and people with pets.

Auckland-based Koneferenisi, 27, contracted meningitis at four months old, which resulted in his right hand and parts of his left hand being amputated. After a number of complications as a child, at age 10 his left leg was amputated, and later his right leg.

“I’m working on starting my own ride sharing app, called Safe Rides Auckland, it will be like an UBER service you could say, but specifically for disabled people, women and people with pets,” said the free-scoring Kiwi.

“I felt the issue was a major thing when I was attending University and I called for an accessible taxi but they were always inaccessible for me and some drivers would even cancel our lift when they realized about the access we would need.

“I plan to start this off in my home of Auckland, that’s where the major issue is in my experience, but we released a survey at the start of the year and a lot of people all across New Zealand had similar experiences.

“I didn’t realize how big the issue is but it’s something I want help with and I believe I can make a difference.”

The Paralympic newcomer, who is classed as the highest functioning player in his side in Tokyo with a 3.5 rating, was picked for the New Zealand wheelchair rugby team - known as the Wheel Blacks - to replace double sport star Cameron Leslie, who is also a three-time 150m individual medley swimming Paralympic gold medalist, who withdrew due to family reasons.

Ironically it was Leslie who first introduced Koneferenisi to the sport of wheelchair rugby in 2009.

“Cameron and the coach (Greg Mitchell) both said to me that it’s not a one man sport, you don’t need to worry about even having just two weeks of training, just know that when you do come onto the court your coming onto a court with your family and every teammate will back you up.”

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics marks the return of the Wheel Blacks to the sport’s premier competition for the first time since the Beijing 2008 Paralympics and it’s been a testing campaign thus far for New Zealand who have been performing the haka, their traditional pre-match ritual made famous by their all-conquering rugby union team, before games in Tokyo.

Koneferenisi shone on Wednesday as he scored 23 tries despite a heavy 63-35 loss to Rio 2016 silver medalists USA and chipped in with 11 tries on Thursday as his side fell to Great Britain 60-37.

“We were pretty rusty at the start today but we managed to pull it back in the third and fourth quarters, we had a mentality to believe in ourselves and we didn’t want the scoreline to control our emotions.

“We had a pep talk from the coach saying don’t look at the score, just go out there and do your job as best as you can and back yourselves and as soon as we did that we started winning some turnovers and doing our job properly.”

Koneferenisi was able to control his emotions throughout the game but during the New Zealand anthem the battling Kiwi broke down in tears as he reflected on his journey to this point and thought of all those people who had helped him to reach the promised land of a Paralympic Games.

“When the anthem came on the first thing that came into my mind was the people that helped me to get here, so my family, the people that helped me do my last minute training (laughs), just everyone who played a role in helping us to be here in Tokyo.

“I was thinking about home and my family and it was an emotional moment for me.”

While the Wheel Backs have lost their first two games, this tournament, for them, is about more than results, it’s a life-changing experience, it’s about returning to elite level wheelchair rugby and savoring a special occasion during a testing time for mankind.

“This is the top eight teams in the world, it’s a massive step up from our national level at home, we haven’t featured at a Paralympics since 2008 but I’m extremely proud of how the guys have stepped up and we’ve kept our heads up and kept rolling.”

Any rugby tournament is a better event for having New Zealand as part of the competition and Koneferenisi sees Tokyo 2020 as a starting point for his side.

“We’ve got a taste of international elite level rugby here, we like the pressure and we need the pressure and Paris 2024 is definitely on our radar.”

New Zealand conclude their wheelchair rugby group B pool phase on Friday against Canada.

KEEP READING: