Emilie Charette was a mainstay at a national level in the sport of kick-boxing, as an athlete, for quite some time.

When injuries quelled that option, the graduate of Collège Boréal simply turned to a sideroad she had already visited.

“I took the referee course for kickboxing in 2016,” said Charette recently, the final year she would compete in a meaningful way. “I figured what better way to really learn the rules and know how to play the game than to take the referee course and understand what they are looking for.”

“Then when I was healing or not fighting, I was able to start judging in kick-boxing – and fell in love with it.”

Advancement came quickly for the 28 year-old who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates, now having expanded her combat sport officiating repertoire. “The transition from athlete to referee was relatively easy, but there is a matter of getting the nerves out,” she admitted.

“It’s no longer a performance anxiety but more of a case of being fast enough for your calls or not knowing all of the calls properly, struggling with the hand signs. You need to look sharp so that it looks like you know what you’re doing and people respect you as a referee. You still get the jitters, but also the thrill of being in the action because you’re so close to it.”

That commitment to officiating excellence along with her vast knowledge of all things combat sports related would make Emilie Charette an excellent choice when WAKO (World Association of Kickboxing Associations) Canada ventured off in search of folks with whom they enjoyed a great deal of comfort, assigning them in similar roles as amateur mixed martial arts, notably in youth, was unveiled in Ontario.

For as much as Charette understands and recognizes the concerns some government agencies have with MMA and the like, her recent expeditions to Serbia (site of the IMMAF European Championships in February) and more recently in UAE (site of the IMMAF Youth World Championships) leave her hopeful that her native land is able to close the gap, globally speaking.

“Other countries are so far ahead, in terms of the quality of their youth athletes and juniors and seniors – and all within the context of safe sport,” she said. “As a referee, you are in it with the athletes. You focus on the action and the safety of the athletes – and I love that aspect of it.”

“You don’t want athletes to take on excessive risk. My job is to help keep people safe – and because it’s an amateur sport, we are very cautious.”

"I do feel very comfortable with the sport as we try and protect the athletes and allow them to compete with less risks."

All of which might help them get to where they want to go.

Currently governed in Canada via the provincial athletic commissions, mixed martial arts would much prefer to follow the same template as the overwhelming majority of other sports.

"If we want to do athlete development, it is crucial for us to have a PSO (provincial sport organization) and NSO (national sport organization) to help us become recognized (which is clearly not the same as falling under the auspices of an athletic commission)," explained Charette.

"We want it recognized as an amateur sport."