Please see the following excerpt from the British Fencing Website at http://britishfencing.com/news/latest-news/?n=520. The FIE rule requires a fencer to be 13 by 1st January (ie. before 1st Jan) in order to compete in any FIE events in that calendar year. The International Youth Committee (IYC) and National Academy (NA) have agreed to change the BF rule to comply with the FIE rule for all events that can include adults, ie all senior and junior (U20) competitions. So, for example, a fencer who was born in 1999 will not be able to enter any senior or junior events until 2013.