No Fingers, No Problem: This N.J. Frosh Is Overcoming Adversity

Zoe Wood has no limits.   In fact, she likes to say she's “<a href="https://www.instagram.com/limb_it_less_1?igsh=MTFsdHFvNm1lajFxcQ==">Limb-it-less</a>.”   Born missing four fingers on her left hand, Wood is not only overcoming physical limitations but also excelling, starting varsity as a freshman for the Clearview Regional High School basketball team.   “Growing up, playing a bunch of sports, there were definitely some challenges I had to face and figure out how to do stuff differently,” Wood said. “There were times – and still are – times when I still feel out of place or like I needed to figure out how to do things differently than everyone else. That's kind of how I've gotten around everything: still being able to figure it out so I can not only be as good as everyone else, but just do it while being different.”   When playing youth sports, Wood primarily used her right hand instead of her left because she was unsure of how exactly she would be able to overcome her congenital condition.   “I would make myself and have a coach force me to use my left hand and do everything everyone else was doing, just so I could get comfortable,” Wood said. “Once I got comfortable, I would take my own time to work on everything I do with my right hand, especially extra with my left, so that I could get everything down.”   “Still, to this day, I'm not as good with my left hand, but I'm still trying to build it as much as possible, and just keep working on my own time — even when no one else is working.”   Clearview coach Casey Heitman, who was also Wood's fifth-grade teacher, asked her over the summer if there was anything she could do to put her in a comfortable position on the court. To no surprise, Wood didn't want any special accommodations.   “I asked her over the summer, ‘Is there anything that you feel I can help put you in a good position with or try to help with?'” said Heitman. “She said, ‘I try not to let it stop me. I figure out a different way to do something if I have to.'"   “It's funny because Zoe was in my fifth-grade class. I knew she was an athlete, and at the time, she was really big into baseball. So I learned about this then, and you don't even notice it. She doesn't let it stop her in any way. She has such a good attitude and energy. She figures out a way to make anything happen. She's such a cool kid. She's very coachable and a team player. She sees the floor really well, and she's overcoming something else too.”   A three-sport athlete who thrived on the baseball field growing up, Wood also plays soccer in the fall and will try softball for the first time this spring for the Group 4 school.   “As a kid, it's hard. You know what you have wrong, but when a kid has a physical disability, I think people automatically say, ‘Oh, this kid can't play a sport, this kid can't play music.' What Zoe does is the opposite,” said Clearview girls soccer coach Dan Matozzo. “She doesn't shy away from any activity. When we're in the weight room, she pushes, she pulls— she does everything. No one would ever know.”   While Wood admits the limitation can be challenging at times, she doesn't let it hold her back.   Especially when it's game time.   “In a very intense game when I'm playing with the team, I really don't think of it. I think it's normal,” she said. “I have to stay confident and know I can do everything to my best ability with it.”   “I just tell myself ‘I can do everything that I put my mind to'. I try to stay positive and never talk down on myself, because the more you talk down on yourself, it never really helps you. The more confidence you put in yourself, the more it pushes you through everything.”

Zoe Wood has no limits.