The 75-year-old great-grandmother making her Commonwealth Games debut

Jacky Hudson and her family are familiar with sport on the biggest stage.Her grandson, Zac Laybutt, plays in the NRL with the North Queensland Cowboys. Her son, Stephen Laybutt, represented Australia as an Olyroo at the Sydney Olympics.Jacky Hudson will represent Australia in lawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games.Bowls Australia Photography, Paul A. BrobenNow, at 75, it’s Hudson’s turn. Later this month, Hudson – a grandmother of five and a great-grandmother of two – will have her chance in the sporting spotlight when she steps out in the green and gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, as part of the lawn bowls squad.“I’m probably still in shock a little but absolutely delighted and really proud that all the hard work has paid off,” she told this masthead.“It’s a privilege as well. I’m looking at it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity unless I still want to hang around until the next Comm Games or world championships,” she laughed.Born in Papua New Guinea, Hudson – who is vision-impaired – admitted she was “no good at sport” growing up and never saw anything athletic as a feasible pathway for herself. She moved to a boarding school in Sydney and was involved in community activities but never as an athlete.Hudson on the green.Bowls Australia Photography, Paul A. BrobenFive decades later, Hudson and her husband Rob moved to Port Stephens in New South Wales. Rob started playing bowls socially and invited Hudson to try as well.What began as a casual hobby quickly snowballed and Hudson started to play competitively with other vision-impaired athletes, before earning a place in Bowls Australia’s high-performance squad four years ago.In 2023, Hudson and her teammate Jake Fehlberg won gold at the 2023 World Bowls Championships.While Hudson is one of Australia’s oldest Commonwealth Games debutants this year, the nations’ lawn bowls team – known as the Jackaroos – is surprisingly youthful. The average age of the bowls team is actually younger than the Australian cricket team – a fact that makes Hudson laugh.“People think it [lawn bowls] is all old people, retirees and they’re in long white clothes, but these young ones make a real living out of the game,” she said.“There’s good prizemoney and you get to travel, I don’t think a lot of people realise that.”Countering misconceptions and stereotypes around lawn bowls is something Dawn Hayman is very familiar with.The 29-year-old is one of the youngest members on the Jackaroos squad and boasts an impressive resume, winning the 2025 trans-Tasman women’s championship and claiming gold in the 2023 world bowls championships.Australian Lawn Bowls Champion Dawn Hayman.Bowls Australia Photography, Paul A. BrobenHayman was first introduced to lawn bowls as a nine-year-old at Fairy Meadows Bowls Club in NSW, although she jokes she wasn’t immediately enamoured with the sport.“My parents wanted me to try bowls and I said, ‘No way I’m never gonna play that game because it’s for old people’,” she laughed.“They eventually got me out there and I haven’t stopped since.”Both Hayman and Hudson agree lawn bowls’ inclusivity is what makes it such an attractive and rewarding sport to play.“The sport is so diverse, you can play with a disability in a wheelchair, whether you’re male or female, it doesn’t matter,” Hayman said.As a vision-impaired athlete, Hudson sometimes struggles to see down the end of the green during lawn bowls competition. Depending on where she’s playing, she will have a director to help her understand how far she needs to throw.Despite her success and accolades, Hudson remains humble, preferring to focus on the achievements of her children and grandchildren.“People always ask where my medals are, but I tend to put them away in a box,” she joked.But she said she would display a Commonwealth Games gold medal at home.“That’s what we all aim for, and not everybody’s going to get one ... all you can do is put in your best effort, and hope for the hope for the results.“As long as you know you’ve done your best, that’s all you can do.”Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.From our partners