At just 13 years old, Mark Shields of Shaunavon, is one of the the youngest TaeKwonDo Refs around.

He travels into Alberta and has been to a few locations in Saskatchewan to referee tournaments, and will be one of the refs at this weekend's Sparfest in Shaunavon.

Mark explains how he got interested in refereeing. "My instructor is Master Pete Allen. He is a National Referee. He's been to Australia and the UK to referee tournaments, so that's kinda what got me interested in it is seeing him. And then, I liked sparring when I was younger, but I was never really big into it, so the way I took it from there was reffing it instead of actually competing in it."

Shields, who turns 14 next week, adds that his goal is to become a National Ref so that he can travel to the World Championships to referee.

The Shaunavon KaeKwonDo Sparfest is happening today from ten a.m. until four p.m. at the Crescent Point Wickenheiser Center in Shaunavon.