Claire Peterson, UConn Ice Hockey Defender, Works to Score on #ClimateComeback as EcoAthletes Champion

March 5, 2024

When one thinks of youth ice hockey hotbeds, San Jose, California does not come close to mind. Claire Peterson was able to overcome the odds to find her way to Division I hockey ice across the country at the University of Connecticut.

“Hockey isn’t much of a thing in the Silicon Valley,” she acknowledged. “But my parents are from New Jersey and were hockey people, and my older brother was into it. While I tried figure skating when I was three, when my mom threw me on hockey ice at one of my brother’s practices and it was love at first skate!” 

Peterson has also traveled a long road when it comes to her climate journey, one that now includes becoming UConn’s first EcoAthletes Champion.

“Climate change is something I’ve known about almost since I first hit the ice,” she shared. “It’s impossible not to be when you’re from Northern California and you experience our frequent droughts and wildfires. My passion for climate action went to another level in my senior year in high school when my biology teacher focused our class on the subject and how we could, how we must do more. That spoke to me, and I was ready to get to work.”

Her strong work ethic and an impatient desire to improve were constants for Peterson on the ice going back to her youth hockey days.

“I always played up in age, which helped me get better faster,” recalled Peterson. “I was on an under 10 team when I was five. The older girls were like big sisters to me — they would take care of me. My brother helped me improve too. He’s five years older than I am and yet I became a better player by the time I was eight. Yes, he was talented but didn’t have the same passion and drive.”  

She decided to pursue the road less traveled in the San Jose area — Division I college hockey. High school hockey was not at the competitive level the offensive defenseman (“I like to score goals”) needed to continue to improve, so she shifted her focus to her club. This came with its own challenges.

“With my club, I basically did whatever I could to get better,” she explained. “I would miss school, sometimes a week at a time, so I’d work with my teachers to keep up. On the ice, I was a leader who always played with controlled aggression, always gave 100 percent, always pushed myself.”

Because she came from an under-recruited part of the country when it came to hockey, Peterson did what she could to introduce herself to college recruiters.

“College hockey recruiting is crazy — some girls commit to D-I programs as early as 8th grade,” she exclaimed. “My recruitment was much later than that, in part because of where I was from and in part because I was a late bloomer — I was 4’ 11” as a freshman and 5’ 7” as a senior. I attended a bunch of summer camps and showcases. It was a lot of pressure, so I was jumpy at first. Then I settled in.”

Due to a lack of interest from D-I schools, Peterson shifted her focus to smaller, D-III programs. Then, at the last camp she attended, an assistant at D-I UConn noticed her.

“I said goodbye to the coach at the end of the camp, thinking they wouldn’t pick me,” she reported. “In fact, my dad said, ‘hey, we’ve gotta go to the next showcase’. As we were leaving, the coach asked if I’d like to go to UConn. I thought, ‘They’re D-I, they have their own on-campus rink’. I was in!”

The team welcomed her with open arms, which was crucial given the COVID pandemic era restrictions that would come into effect in the spring of her freshman year in 2020.

“When I arrived, the campus was basically empty except for student-athletes,” asserted Peterson. “The family feeling in our team made things bearable; my teammates supported me when I was lonely or sad and I did the same for them. The coaches were great, too, caring for us as people more than just as athletes. In the end, the team became more competitive on the ice because of our camaraderie off it.”

That togetherness has been a necessity for her, and her teammates given the quality of the competition they face in Hockey East, one of the top leagues in the women’s collegiate game, featuring top programs like Boston College, Northeastern, and Providence College. Last season, the Huskies finished in a distant 5th place but Peterson, who graduated last spring majoring in molecular and cell biology and is now pursuing a master’s degree that focuses on immunology and cell/developmental biology, committed to doing whatever she could to make sure her that 2023-24, her last season at UConn, ended up with a league championship.

“Last season, we had a lot of new players, and we found it hard to gel, especially on the offensive end,” she lamented before the campaign started. “This season, everyone knows their roles and that is helping us convert more of our goal scoring opportunities. It won’t be easy, but I am confident that we can get to the top.” Peterson’s optimism was well founded as UConn, despite the challenging opposition, became Hockey East regular season champions for the first time in program history.

And despite the many serious climate challenges facing the world, Peterson also believes that athletes can play a key role in the overcoming them. And that’s why she is enthusiastic about becoming an EcoAthletes Champion.

“A teammate and I were writing a paper about the intersection of climate change and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for student-athletes and we had no idea how to connect the two,” she offered. “That’s when I found out about EcoAthletes. The more I learned, the more I knew I wanted to be part of this group that is leveraging the power of sports, and my power as an athlete, to drive climate action. I hope to play professionally in either the US or Europe; doing so — and working with EcoAthletes — will allow me to extend my climate influence.”

You can follow Claire on Instagram