En Garde works with national and international sporting bodies to make sure their sport ecosystems are safe for children, athletes, and all vulnerable stakeholders by providing strategic safeguarding advice, education, training and advocacy.
EN GARDE has developed a robust methodology to evaluate your organisation’s safeguarding compliance against applicable laws and international best practices.
Following the audit, we provide clear, strategic recommendations to strengthen your safeguarding framework. We also conduct safeguarding risk assessments for sports facilities and training
environments, identifying gaps and opportunities to build a safer culture.
EN GARDE works directly with your sport’s community to promote a safe, inclusive, and respectful culture. We deliver bespoke keynotes, talks, and workshops grounded in the latest research, global trends, and real-world experience. Whether speaking to athletes, coaches, staff, or leadership, we inspire change and position your organisation as a safeguarding leader.
We provide victim-centred and trauma-informed case management support, ensuring the rights and wellbeing of all individuals are at the core of your response.
EN GARDE also serves as Safeguarding Officers at major international events, providing on-the-ground expertise and guidance throughout the competition lifecycle.
We are vigilant about what happen on the playing field and we are on our guard when it comes to child protection and abuse & harassment in sport. We are ready to fight and respond when abuse & harassment does take place.
We love sport and we are competitive, we thrive for excellence and encourage people to be the best they can be.
Respect is everything to our company. Respect of Human Rights above all.
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Founder
Mathilde is originally from Paris, now based in Lausanne, and has worked in the Olympic Movement for the last 15 years Mathilde is passionate about sport and has a strong athletic background having formerly been a NCAA tennis player for the University of South Carolina.
Child Safeguarding in Sport is a topic which resonates very profoundly with her as she is a survivor of sexual abuse having been abused by her tennis coach in her youth. While she was going through a legal battle against this coach from 2014 to 2021, together with three other victims, she created the association Rebond aimed at preventing sexual violence in sports and providing holistic support to victims. Rebond is now partnered with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) in its drive towards safeguarding in tennis.
Following the conclusion of the trial against her perpetrator and his subsequent 18-year jail
sentence, she decided to leave her Event Manager job at the International Hockey Federation at the end of January 2022 in order to pursue a full-time career in safeguarding.
In May 2022 she founded En Garde in order to help the key global sporting actors to implement appropriate and essential policies and procedures. These are supplemented by adapted educational programmes & training methods to efficiently prevent and respond to Interpersonal Violence in sport and make sure sport remains a fun place and a wonderful school of life.
In February 2022 Mathilde was selected to be become a member of the Pool of International Experts on Safe Sport at the Council of Europe.
Mathilde holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Marketing from the University of
South Carolina, together with a MBA in Strategic Human Resources & Sustainability from the University of São Paulo and a Master in Sports Organization Management from the University Catholique de Louvain.
Mathilde Grenet is also a certified IOC Safeguarding Officer in Sport.
Mathilde speaks 4 languages, French, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Since December 2022, EN GARDE has been working in close partnership with European Athletics to strengthen safeguarding across its Member Federations and major competitions.
Read MoreIn early 2023, FIFA appointed EN GARDE to lead the development of Safeguarding and Player Care Guidelines for Football Academies worldwide. This global initiative aims to support FIFA Member Associations in creating safer, more nurturing environments for young players in football academies, both residential and non-residential.
Read MoreIn 2024 EN GARDE was appointed by Play International to conduct a safeguarding audit of the NGO Play International’s child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures and to design a safeguarding diagnostic tool to assess the child protection and safeguarding capacity of the sport academies taking part in the project “Strengthening Sports and Inclusive Academies Program in Africa”
Read MoreIn 2024, EN GARDE collaborated with the FIS to develop an Event Safeguarding Toolkit to develop safeguarding guidance for host competition organisers.
Read MoreIn 2024, IMOCA appointed EN GARDE to set up an independent unit dedicated to fighting against workplace abuse and harassment in ocean racing.
Read MoreIn September 2024 EN GARDE was appointed by UCI to deliver safeguarding trainings, develop safeguarding guidance, provide case management support, create an e-learning module for athletes and staff of road cycling teams.
Read MoreWe have had a pleasure of helping prestigious sport organisations. Here is what they think about us.
Travailler avec Mathilde a été une expérience très riche. Son approche bienveillante et son expertise ont permis d'initier un dialogue sain au sein de notre écosystème et de poser les bases d’un environnement plus sûr et respectueux dans la pratique de notre sport. Grâce à la mise en place d’actions efficaces et d'outils concrets, nous avons pu aborder des sujets sensibles et mieux prévenir les situations à risque.
Thank you so much Mathilde Grenet for performing a compressive audit of our UCI World Cycling Centre operations and facilities, and for providing sensible and proactive solutions. To safer and increasingly inclusive training and competition environments in 2025.
We are pleased to collaborate with Mathilde Grenet and through this partnership we can provide greater value for our stakeholders by strengthening safe sport principles in practice.
Mathilde Grenet from En Garde supported us at European Athletics at a crucial point of our Safeguarding programme development. She has been involved with the European Athletics Safeguarding Working Group to support the preparation and be a speaker at some awareness-raising and educational activities for some specific target groups and events (2022 Young Leaders Forum, 2022 Convention, 2022 EA Staff Training). As a survivor, she is able to share a first-hand experience that helps change the current status quo in Sports today and tomorrow. She is also very determined to be hands-on and support our organisation to be leading by example while supporting our 51 Member Federations.
Dans le cadre des séminaires organisés pour les Fédérations sportives internationales, Mathlide a su par son expertise et son professionnalisme, poser un cadre clair, échanger des bonnes pratiques, et partager différents projets. Les participants ont également apprécié l’énergie et la passion dont elle fait preuve pour sensibiliser son auditoire afin que les choses changent ! Merci Mathilde
Il y a beaucoup à faire dans la sensibilisation et la prise en charge d'éventuelles victimes de violences sexuelles dans le sport! Les langues se délient mais il faut une belle énergie pour affronter cette thématique. Mathilde conjugue cette énergie et son expérience malheureuse pour mettre à notre disposition toute sa résilience de façon constructive. J'ai eu l'occasion de faire appel à ses services dans le cadre d'une campagne locale avec nos clubs sportifs " Repérer, alerter, secourir".Elle a préparé une excellente formation adaptée à nos besoins basiques: définitions, cadre juridique puis présentation de bonnes pratiques. Depuis que je l'ai rencontrée, il y a quelques mois, son discours a su s'adapter, de l'émotion pure à l'élaboration des distances pédagogiques nécessaires, elle devient un guide bienveillant pour ses interlocuteurs.Si Mathilde Grenet cultive dorénavant la sensibilisation aux violences sexuelles auprès de différentes fédérations, afin que tous les enfants puissent pratiquer un sport en sécurité, ce n'est pas un hasard! Son cabinet "En Garde" lui en donne le cadre. Faites appel à elle vous verrez que vous ne vous trompez pas.
Gibraltar Athletics had the immense honour of welcoming Ms. Mathilde Grenet, founder of En Garde, to Gibraltar’s first-ever international conference on Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults in Sport.
Mathilde delivered a powerful and insightful presentation on the positive measures that must be taken to protect young athletes and vulnerable adults from harm, abuse, and exploitation in sport - whether on the field of play, in training settings, or during travel and competition.
In the latter part of her talk, Mathilde shared a deeply moving and personal account of her own experiences as a survivor of sexual abuse by her coach, leaving a profound impact on all in attendance.
In the second part of the conference, Mathilde joined a distinguished panel of safeguarding experts, with representation from Gibraltar Social Services, the Police, Education, the legal profession, and the Ministry of Sport. The discussion was expertly moderated by the Director of Services, Safety, and Standards at Gibraltar’s Care Agency.
The panel explored the roles and responsibilities of each Agency in protecting individuals from harm, abuse, and exploitation. Mathilde played a key role in the discussion, offering valuable advice and guidance drawn from her expertise and personal experience.
Mathilde stepped in as Safeguarding Consultant to support our sport federation and delivered outstanding work. With deep expertise in safeguarding and the prevention of harassment and abuse, she approached every aspect of the role with thoughtfulness, professionalism, and a strong ethical compass. Her professionalism, discretion, and ability to handle sensitive matters with confidence left a lasting positive impact. I wholeheartedly recommend Mathilde to any organization looking to strengthen its safeguarding practices.
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