Rec Sports
Cal Petersen gives back to youth hockey with the Iowa Wild
Dec. 8, 2025, 5:02 a.m. CT
Cal Petersen held onto a simple childhood dream: He wanted to play for the Waterloo Black Hawks.
He grew up in eastern Iowa, and he gravitated toward hockey – a sport often trumped by more popular sports in the state, like baseball, basketball, football and wrestling – because of his family’s history.
And while most young players dreamed of making it to the National Hockey League, Petersen set his sights on the local USHL – the top junior hockey league in the United States – team.