The Canadian muaythai community gets behind women athletes next week when an all-female amateur muaythai event brings well-known faces from around the world to Ontario. The event is also a fund-raiser for junior athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Supported by Muaythai Ontairo which is part of Muaythai Canada the event shines a light on up-coming athletes as well as more established faces. Run by BackForward Kick Promotions, athletes in almost all bouts compete wearing protective equipment including helmets, elbows and shin-guards.

The aim of the series of events is: “Our vision is for Canada to have the best competitive environment for amateur combat sports in the world, and we’re going to achieve that through quality events that travel throughout the country, providing competitive opportunities to athletes and areas that might otherwise be overlooked.”

Among the athletes at this year’s tournament are Meaghan Cameron  and Taylor McClatchie who represented Canada at the World Championships in Cancun earlier this year, and Jackie Buntan who represented the USA.

Janet Todd who medalled at The World Games last year for America also competes. And at junior level Jazzy Parr comes all the way from Australia to face Youth World Champion Nicole Fernandez (USA). And yes Jazzy is the daughter of John Parr.

The promotion also looks outside of this event to the long-term development of women in muaythai. BackFoorwardKick and Shespars manage donations for the “SHEfights Ontario Youth Training Grant” which funds training for girls aged under-17. Last year donors raised one thousand dollars to be divided between girls chosen by the Federation based on need. The grant is then given out by Muaythai Ontario, read more here. 

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Read more about the BackForward Kick Promotion

Learn more about muaythai in Canada under Muaythai Canada on their website.