Charmaine Reid adds a Sports Emmy to her already sizeable trophy case
July 3, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Charmaine Reid has plenty of hardware on her trophy shelf, and she continues to add to it.
When she isn’t running her business Reid’s Fresh Kitchen on Garrison Road, the Olympian and multiple-medal-winning Pan-Am Games badminton player finds other ways to keep busy.
Through a partnership with Canadian Tire Jumpstart, she visits schools across the region and beyond to teach them about her sport, and share messages of encouragement about reaching life goals.
She’s also a professional broadcaster and has been a commentator in many televised events in the world of badminton.
Charmaine Reid, from Fort Erie, is part of a cast and crew who recently won a Sports Emmy for their coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Credit: Charmaine ReidAnd she’s become so good at it that she is part of an NBC Sports cast and crew that recently won a Sports Emmy in the Outstanding Live Special category for their work during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“It was kind of unexpected,” she told Fort Erie Radio in an interview, also noting that Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart were part of the coverage.
Reid, 51, years old, has also worked as a commentator for many events with the Badminton World Federation, among others.
Her start with calling matches came during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens when she competed in singles and doubles, but was invited by Canadian sports broadcasting legend Ron MacLean to call some action for CBC.
“Of course you say yes,” she reflected on that moment.
She ended up being colour commentary for Elliotte Friedman, who has since grown into a household name on Canadian TV as a journalist who covers the National Hockey League (NHL) and is a staple of Hockey Night in Canada.
Sports broadcasting runs in her family as her uncle Tom Reid, a former NHL player, is a long-time commentator with the Minnesota Wild.
Reid has visited several local schools in recent weeks, but one that stands out was going back to where it all started: Garrison Road Public School, where she began developing her love of badminton, but also taking pride in her country by singing O Canada every morning.
“That’s where I knew I wanted to be an Olympian,” she said.
In the Pan-Am Games, Reid has a gold medal in doubles as well as four silver medals.
She also has a gold and a silver in the over-35 category at the world championships, she said.
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About The Author
Kris Dubé
Kris is a veteran journalist who has worked in Niagara for close to 20 years. He is also a lifelong resident of Fort Erie, a place he plans to call home and raise his family for many more years.
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