Interview with Amanda Caron - Transcripts Clean Version

Aug 27, 2026

Uploaded by Bintang

Interview transcript with student oral historian Peter Anderson interviewing Amanda Caron, Vice President of the Marquette Aquamen Underwater Hockey and Rugby Club, for History 345 at Northern Michigan University. The conversation covers Amanda’s background in Watersmeet, her transition to Northern after high school and community college, and her expectations for academics and student life. It also explains how the underwater hockey and underwater rugby clubs operate, including weekly practices, safety equipment, rules, pool depths, and club goals such as confidence building and learning an uncommon sport.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Interview Overview

Personal Background and Education

Student Expectations and Social Life

Marquette Aquamen Club Activities

Underwater Hockey Rules and Equipment

Underwater Rugby Rules and Court Setup

Pool Depth and Training Schedule

Club History and Goals

Interview with Amanda Caron Marquette, MI Sep. 21st 2018 Peter Anderson: It is September 21st 2018, student and oral historian Peter Anderson here with Vice President of the Marquette Aquamen Underwater Hockey and Rugby Club, Amanda Caron, with an interview for History 345 at Northern Michigan University and to start, Amanda will you state your name, spell it, and birthday please. Amanda Caron: Amanda Caron, A-M-A-N-D-A, C-A-R-O-N. My birthday is 8/27/97 . PA: Okay, thank you. So, where are you from? AC: I’m from Watersmeet, Michigan. It is about 2 hours southwest of here. PA: How did your family end up in Watersmeet? AC: My dad lived there and his parents and so my great-grandparents were the first ones there so, just along history (LAUGHS) . PA: What brought you to Northern, here? AC: Um, so, after graduating high school from Watersmeet I first went to Gogebic Community College, like an hour away from house and then I received a full ride scholarship to come here to Northern so asa sophomore I came to Northern. PA: Okay, did you have any expectations before you came here? AC: Um, I really wanted to get more involved to join some student organizations and to make friends. So I was like kind of nervous that Northern was going to be more difficult than the community college that I was used to I heard a lot of rumors that Northern was going to be more difficult but it turned out okay. PA: I went to Gogebic too, went to the Houghton branch. AC: No way! PA: Yeah the Houghton branch up in the Keweenaw. AC: Oh okay. PA: So, um, how were the expectations once you got here? Were they met? Were the good expectations met? Were the bad expectations ones not met? AC: Yeah, um, the classes they weren’t too difficult. I mean they were like a slight step up but I was, you know, also progressing in my education so that’s to be expected too. I did make friends, I’m not super great at making friends but I did make a little bit of friends and sometimes I wish I made more. Especially the first year coming in cause I felt really lonely as a sophomore transfer student. And of course I joined the underwater hockey rugby club. PA: So, like you said, you joined the Marquette Aquamen Underwater Hockey Rugby Club, just give mean idea what you guys do. AC: What do we do, so um, we meet every Tuesday for practice. We play underwater hockey first. Underwater hockey is a non-contact sport. We have a lot of safety equipment. We wear a snorkel, a mouthpiece, we have ear protection like a little hood. We wear flippers and for hockey we wear a glove to protect our hands and a hockey stick. The glove is to protect against the floor cause were driving the hockey puck on the bottom of the pool floor so that’s why wear the glove. So, yeah um, underwater hockey, ideally its six people on each team, goals at each end of the pool and both of teams are snorkeling. Surfacing, diving, surfacing, diving, going after the puck, trying to push it at the goal. PA: Um, rugby, how does that play out? AC: Rugby, similar but different. Similar that we still wear fins and snorkels and the mask of course. Um, but we don’t wear a glove and we don’t have the hockey stick or anything like that. We have a rugby ball, it’s essentially like a hockey, no a soccer ball is what it looks like. It’s filled with salt water so it sinksin a chlorine pool. Um and so its, we basically have a basketball hoop on the bottom of the pool floor at each end. And then the same idea going back and forth, throwing the ball back and forth, throwing the ball to other players under the water. Again, surfacing, diving, surfacing, diving. Um, but rugby is really cool because it’s the only 360 degree sport because you can pass it anywhere. It’s like to players up above, side to side. Anywhere. PA: So it is underwater of course, how deep is the pool? AC: So um, the rugby we play on the deep side. We play at the high school pool, um their deep end is 12 feet deep. That’

FAQs

Who is Amanda Caron and what role does she have in the club?

Amanda Caron is Vice President of the Marquette Aquamen Underwater Hockey and Rugby Club, interviewed for History 345 at Northern Michigan University.

Why did Amanda come to Northern Michigan University and what were her expectations?

After graduating high school in Watersmeet and studying at Gogebic Community College, she earned a full ride scholarship to attend Northern. She expected academics to be harder and hoped to join student organizations and make friends.

How does underwater hockey work in the club, including basic equipment and gameplay?

Amanda describes it as a non-contact sport practiced weekly, where players wear snorkels, mouthpieces, ear protection, fins, gloves, and hockey sticks. Teams use underwater goal play by surfacing and diving to control the puck at the bottom of the pool.

What are the club’s goals and how does underwater rugby differ from underwater hockey?

The club aims to provide a unique sport experience, build underwater confidence, and help members overcome water-related insecurities while learning new skills. Underwater rugby uses fins and snorkels but no glove or stick, and it uses a salt-water-filled ball with a 360-degree passing style in the pool.

Aug 27, 2026

Uploaded by Bintang

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