Youth rules: minimum ages, blade sizes and kit, body by body.

FIE: who may enter its competitions

• Minimum age 13. No fencer may hold an FIE licence, and so enter an official FIE competition, before their 13th birthday (Organisation Rules o.29.1, in both the December 2025 and August 2026 editions).
• Cadet and junior. FIE cadet events are for fencers under 17, and junior events for fencers under 20, at midnight on 31 December of the current season (o.29.2). Otherwise there is no maximum age, except in the veteran categories (o.29.3).
• Minors at events. A participant under the age of majority in the host country must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or validly delegated adult able to act for them on health matters and doping control, or must have given that power to an adult present at the competition (o.29.4).
• A 2017 vote on 13. The FIE Medical Commission's minutes of 30 June 2017 record a majority vote to make the 13th birthday the threshold for FIE-sanctioned competitions, as a proposed rule change, after discussion of whether more medical research on a minimum age was needed.
• Doping control of minors. Appendix D of the FIE's 2025 Anti-Doping Operational Instructions sets adjustments for testing minors, such as the offer of an adult representative.
• Kit. At FIE events, the FIE's kit rules apply to every age group; British Fencing's chart lists maraging blades, 800 N FIE-marked clothing and 1,600 N FIE-marked masks for all FIE competitions at all ages.

British Fencing (Safety Guidelines, 23rd edition, June 2026)

• Blade sizes. Children under 10 should fence with size 0 blades. Under-14s should normally use size 3 blades at foil, or size 2 at epee and sabre, or smaller, as their age group's competitions require (section 2.3).
• Chest protection. Rigid chest protection is compulsory for anyone with female breasts, and recommended for girls from age 10 or from the onset of puberty if earlier (section 1.5).
• Epee legs. In beginner or taster sparring at epee, the legs may not be target unless the pupil wears at least 350N breeches and long socks, whatever the blade size or age (4.4.2).
• Numbers and consent. Generally no more than twelve children per coach should fence at once, fewer for young children, and fencers under 18 need consent from a parent or person in loco parentis to enter a competition (Appendices 2 and 3).
• Plastic and foam weapons. These need a purpose-designed plastic face mask or a regulation fencing mask, a long-sleeved top, and legs covered to within 10 cm above the knee (1.8 and 6.1).

The main change in the 23rd edition, announced on 1 July 2026, is that breeches are now required for under-14s using size 2 or 3 electric blades in traditional club sparring with metal blades; tracksuits remain allowed for some activities, such as coach-supervised beginners' classes. British Fencing's safety page (updated 2 October 2026) lists a 24th edition approved in September 2026, which was not read, so section numbers here are from the 23rd edition.

USA Fencing

• Youth categories. USA Fencing runs Y8 (8 and under), Y10, Y12 and Y14 events, with eligibility by birth year, and its Division I North American Cups are for fencers aged 13 or older (Athlete Handbook 2023-2024, sections 2.8 and 2.12.5).
• Blade length. For Y8 and Y10 competitions the maximum blade length is 32.5 inches; other competitions use standard lengths (Athlete Handbook 2026-2027, 2.17.1). The handbook's table gives maximum lengths by blade size: size 0, 2 and 3 are 775, 825 and 850 mm at foil and epee, and 765, 820 and 850 mm at sabre (the 2026-2027 table was read from a text extraction, so its row alignment is unconfirmed; the 2023-2024 handbook gives the same figures).
• Domestic kit. Standard uniforms and plastrons are accepted without an FIE label; 800 N gloves are required at sabre at every level; women must wear chest protectors; the conductive bib is required at foil at every level (Athlete Handbook 2026-2027, 2.17.1).
• Latest handbook. The 2026-2027 Athlete Handbook was first published on 11 September 2026, with changes logged to 22 October 2026, including clarified age-category eligibility exceptions for Senior, Junior, Cadet, Y12 and Y14 (27 September 2026), so the 2023-2024 category details above may have been refined; its changelog lists no entries on blade sizes, masks, newton ratings or chest protectors.

The two bodies set different levels. British Fencing requires CEN-rated kit of at least 350 N at every club level, while USA Fencing accepts standard uniforms without an FIE label at domestic events and its Athlete Handbook names 800 N only for the sabre glove. Each rule applies in its own jurisdiction; neither is a finding that one is safer.

Youth in the injury figures

• Harmer (2008b, about 42,000 US competition participants, as summarised in the IOC chapter) found no significant difference in time-loss injury rate between fencers aged 8 to 17 (0.27 per 1,000 exposures), young adults and veterans.
• In US emergency-department data for 2013 to 2023 (NEISS; Stanicki and colleagues, 2025), patients aged 11 to 15 were the largest group (35.7%) and the median age was 16. That shows who arrived at hospital, not how likely a young fencer is to be hurt.

Kit levels for young fencers are set out item by item on youth equipment levels, and the age categories themselves on ages and categories.