My kid is small for their age, will they get hurt fencing bigger kids?

Size matters far less in fencing than in almost any other combat or contact sport, there are no weight classes because there don't need to be. The gear absorbs blade contact the same for everyone, and a bigger opponent can't 'overpower' anyone; there's no grappling, checking or tackling.

What reach and height actually buy is a longer scoring distance, a real but very beatable advantage. Short fencers are famously dangerous: they fight at close quarters where tall fencers are clumsy, they're usually faster, and their smaller target is harder to hit. Some of the best fencers in the world are well under average height.

Structurally, kids' competition protects younger athletes anyway: youth events run in age brackets (Y-8, Y-10, Y-12, Y-14), so an eight-year-old isn't bouting teenagers. In club practice, coaches pair kids sensibly, and a good club teaches controlled hitting from day one.

The honest answer to the safety worry: the injury data says fencing is one of the safest sports your kid could pick, smaller than average or not. The thing to actually watch is confidence, not bruises, and beating a bigger kid on speed is the single fastest confidence-builder in the sport.