{"id":680432,"date":"2026-05-19T08:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/680432\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T08:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:42:13","slug":"great-grandmother-jacky-hudson-to-represent-australia-at-commonwealth-games-in-glasgow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/680432\/","title":{"rendered":"Great-grandmother Jacky Hudson to represent Australia at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people are slowing down at the age of 75, but for Jacky Hudson life is only getting busier.<\/p>\n

In July the great-grandmother will pull on the green and gold at a Commonwealth Games for the first time after being selected in Australia’s 12-strong Jackaroos squad.<\/p>\n

The vision-impaired lawn bowler admits she still can’t quite believe it.<\/p>\n

“Never in my wildest dreams,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m still pinching myself all the time. Actually, I nearly feel like crying.”<\/p>\n

The remarkable selection caps off an unforgettable week for Hudson, who also learned she is about to become a great-grandmother again.<\/p>\n

Born in Papua New Guinea, Hudson comes from a family with deep sporting roots.<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

Hudson’s son played for the Socceroos and her grandson plays in the NRL. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n

Her son Stephen Laybutt represented Australia as a Socceroo at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and her grandson Zac Laybutt is making his mark as a winger in the NRL with the North Queensland Cowboys.<\/p>\n

But despite the family pedigree, Hudson says sport was never something she thought she would pursue.<\/p>\n

“I’d never played sport because I’ve been vision impaired since birth, so I have a very sporty family, but now it’s my turn,” she said.<\/p>\n

Hudson took up bowls after retiring, using it as a way to meet people.<\/p>\n

But what began as a social pastime soon transformed into something far greater, earning her a place in Bowls Australia’s high-performance squad four years ago.<\/p>\n

Now she’s headed to one of the biggest sporting stages in the world.<\/p>\n

Hudson says the inclusiveness of lawn bowls is what makes it so special.<\/p>\n

“The fact that you can go and play with able-bodied players, you can be five or 95, that’s the biggest thing for me,” she said.<\/p>\n

“There’s no judgement.”<\/p>\n

Hudson will compete in the vision-impaired mixed pairs alongside teammate Jake Fehlberg, who is preparing for his third Commonwealth Games campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Twelve<\/p>\n

Australia’s Commonwealth Games Jackaroos team. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n

The duo won gold at the 2023 World Bowls Championships.<\/p>\n

“We get along really well off the green as well, we’re basically like family,” Fehlberg said.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully we can take that form and get another good result over in Glasgow.”<\/p>\n

Hudson jokes the 32-year-old is “like her grandkids” but says their friendship has become one of the reasons behind their success.<\/p>\n

Glasgow will offer an experience unlike anything Hudson has known before and she plans to savour every second.<\/p>\n

“I’m sure I will relish every moment of it,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m looking forward to just being part of that whole team, wearing the green gold for Australia, and just doing the best I can for everybody.”<\/p>\n

Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games bowls squad:Open<\/p>\n

Men’s singles: Aaron Wilson (Cabramatta, NSW)<\/p>\n

Men’s pairs: Corey Wedlock (Merrylands, NSW) & Aaron Teys (Warilla, NSW)<\/p>\n

Women’s singles: Ellen Fife (Cabramatta, NSW)<\/p>\n

Women’s pairs: Dawn Hayman (St Johns Park, NSW) & Kelsey Cottrell (Club Helensvale, Qld)<\/p>\n

Para<\/p>\n

Para men’s pairs: Damien Delgado (Club Tweed, Qld) & James Reynolds (Cabramatta, NSW)<\/p>\n

Para women’s pairs: Louise Hoskins (South Johnstone, Qld) & Serena Bonnell (Club Tweed, Qld)<\/p>\n

Vision-impaired mixed pairs: Jacky Hudson (Soldiers Point, NSW) & Jake Fehlberg (Bargara, Qld)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most people are slowing down at the age of 75, but for Jacky Hudson life is only getting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,16742,328165,44],"class_list":["post-680432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-commonwealth-games","tag-lawn-bowls","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}