When it came to sports, Gianna Rojas had been sitting on the “sidelines” her entire life. Born without fingers on her left hand, the 56-year-old from Oak Ridge, N.J. was constantly left out and bullied in her youth.
“I was born in a generation where society taught children, ‘don’t look, don’t stare and don’t ask questions,’ Rojas explained. “I was picked on, teased, left out and, to make things worse, my dad was in the Navy, so we had to move every few years.”
Decades passed and Rojas adapted to life with one hand. But, whenever her husband of 32 years went golfing with friends, she felt like “that little girl being left out again.”
Photo c/o Gianna Rojas
So, she decided to join in on the fairway fun.
“I thought, I’ve figured out everything else in my life. Why can’t I learn how to play golf?” Rojas said.
Not only has she developed a nice one-handed swing that can send a ball 150 yards straight down the fairway off the tee box, but she’s using her experience as a one-time beginner who didn’t have the appropriate resources to learn the sport, to became the resource for golfers of all abilities.
She started Adaptive Golfers, a 501c3 organization to act as her anchor. And, with an established mission of using golf as a conduit to reach out to people who have any type of challenge, whether it’s physical, cognitive, sensory or health and age related, Rojas is widening the lens for those who want to give the sport a try.
“Golf is between you, the ball and the hole, and the ball and hole don’t care if you roll it with your nose, or even if you get there,” Rojas said. “It’s a very independent activity, and because of the cognitive focus you need, it makes other stressors in your life melt away and disappear. But, it can also bring people together. You can go out and play golf with anybody of any ability.”
Life in Florida Helps Shape the Future
For Rojas, sports were the furthest thing from her mind during childhood.
“At the time, society didn’t encourage us to play things people with two hands could play, so I never even thought about trying baseball or basketball,” she said. “Not only that, but I wasn’t going to be picked for a team anyway.”
The fact that she wasn’t included was one thing, but the non-stop nastiness from peers was another. She ate lunch by herself in concrete tubes on the playground, she was pushed from behind and her glasses would fall into the dirt, and she was even locked in a middle school locker for more than three hours. In high school, girls she was supposedly friends with would tell her they would pick her up at her house, honk the car horn and then drive away.
It was a lonely childhood, especially because she moved from town to town so often, but there were some highlights, too. While her father was stationed in Florida, a neighbor suggested that her mother bring her to the March of Dimes office.
Photo c/o Gianna Rojas
“From 1972 to 1976, I was the March of Dimes poster child for the state of Florida, and during that time, I had some chromosomal and genetic testing to help support some of the research the March of Dimes was already doing to find out why so many babies are being born with birth defects,” Rojas said. “Because there was no family history of limb deformity, I was able to get some of that testing that helped put results toward the research for finding out if the cause of some birth defects was the thalidomide pill they were giving mothers back in those days for morning sickness.”
While she was in the March of Dimes, she had the opportunity to meet the late legendary golfer, Arnold Palmer, and sit on his lap during a national photo shoot.
At the time, she didn’t know a thing about golf and certainly had no desire to play. But, that encounter certainly meant more once she became “the One-Handed Lady Golfer,” as she likes to call herself.
‘I Don’t Keep a Handicap, I Have One’
After her family moved away from Florida, Rojas left the March of Dimes and “never looked back.”
But life, as it often does, came full circle. She picked up a golf club and began developing a swing based on what felt “right” to her.
Photo c/o Gianna Rojas
“Nobody out there is saying ‘hey, Miss One-Handed Lady, we can teach you,'” Rojas said.
About five years later, she played her first round with a “if I have to pick up, I pick up,” attitude. She got hooked, not only because she could hit some descent shots, but because she was able to be out there doing what everybody else was doing.
When Hurricane Sandy leveled the east coast in 2012, Rojas’ home catering business took a hit, as did her living space when two trees fell into her home. Temporarily living in a hotel room, the winds of change engulfed her, too.
“A friend of ours mentioned he was a spokesperson for the March of Dimes. I said to this friend, I wouldn’t mind getting reconnected and volunteering,” she said. “I wound up volunteering. They pulled me in as an intern for a couple of months and offered me an opportunity. If it wasn’t for me playing golf, I wouldn’t have gotten connected with March of Dimes again.”
She worked as the community director for the county and used golf as a pipeline to talk about birth defects. She also ran the annual walk at Liberty State Park, finding volunteers, sponsors and organizing fundraising efforts. Then, in May, the organization laid off 150 positions, hers included. That’s when she decided to commit her time and energy to Adaptive Golfers full-time.
Teaching the Teachers
Rojas doesn’t sell adaptive golf equipment. She takes a broader approach to influence the industry on a much more personal level.
“I form relationships with organizations that make these amazing products, and I get to know these amazing non-profits that help people who have challenges, so I can make recommendations,” Rojas explained. “I can tell people in the industry what I needed as a golfer. So, I’m able to be that liaison to pull it all together, and help push the initiative in the industry.”
She also pursues grants that support educating PGA teaching professionals in adaptive golf instruction.
Photo c/o Gianna Rojas
“There’s so many things you need to know even before you put a golf club in somebody’s hand,” Rojas said. “For instance, somebody who’s been in a wheelchair for most of their life, you put them in a ParaGolfer and you stand them up, they might pass out on you because you’ve changed their blood flow.”
After the basics are taught to the teaching pros, experiential lessons take place. For example, a prosthetic leg may be strapped onto their bodies, so they get the feel for what it’s like to swing a club with one leg.
“That helps them to teach based on a person’s difference rather than just showing technique,” Rojas said.
The idea is for these teaching pros to go back to their clubs so they can start running adaptive clinics themselves.
Most recently, Rojas has started working with PGA TOUR Superstores and Top Golf to implement a training program for their instructors, so they’re well-versed in working with golfers of all abilities.
Offering a Hand
The work Rojas is doing is necessary. For example, the mother of a 13-year-old girl who has an above-the-elbow limb deficiency, approached Rojas recently after seeing a news report.
“Her daughter watched and said ‘if that lady can learn to swing like that, maybe I could,'” Rojas said. “The mother said, ‘You just changed my daughter’s life. She isn’t putting herself out there, she doesn’t want to get picked on anymore and she’s lonely at home. If I can get her to be able to golf, this can bring her out of that.’ I was that girl sitting at home, so I don’t want anyone to feel left out.”
Photo c/o Gianna Rojas
As Rojas encourages everyone to “try everything you can get your hands and figure out a way to do it,” she also knows that fear can play a role in that process.
“Don’t worry about what other people are telling you, and don’t worry about what it’s going to look like to other people,” she offered.
As for advice to those “other people?”
“When someone sees me doing something that you would normally need two hands for, and they come to me and say, ‘Can I give you a hand with that?’ I say, ‘sure, I’ll take your left one but I don’t need any help,'” Rojas said. “Give people the opportunity to try the task by themselves. Usually, you can sense when someone is really struggling, and you do need to help them. But, don’t help them right off the bat. Give them a chance. They’re going to figure out how to do it. They’ll just do it differently than how you would normally do it.”
Much like individual differences in golf swings.
