Ellen Cawker

Ellen Cawker

Personal information
Nationality	South African
Born	(1946-02-28) 28 February 1946 Perth, Scotland
Sport
Club	Widenham Retirement Village Bowls Club
Medal record Women's lawn bowls Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester pairs Atlantic Bowls Championships 1999 Cape Town fours

Ellen Cawker is a former South African international lawn bowler and national team manager.

Bowls career

Cawker was born in 1946 in Perth, Scotland but emigrated to Rhodesia in 1956.

In 1999 she won the fours gold medal at the Atlantic Bowls Championships with Trish Steyn, Hester Bekker and Lorna Trigwell.

Three years later in 2002, she won the silver medal in the women's pairs with Jill Hackland at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

At international level (as both player and manager), she has won multiple medals - including Commonwealth Games, World Bowls Championships, African States Championships, Atlantic Rim Championships.

She retired from international competition after the Commonwealth Games and then served as South Africa team manager until 2007 but still plays for the Widenham Retirement Village Bowls Club.

In her domestic career at national level, she has won the National Singles, National Mixed Pairs, National Fours, Senior Inter-Districts, Senior Masters.

She won the 2010 fours at the National Championships bowling for the Margate Bowls Club.

In 2024, at the age of 78, she won the Kingfisher Mixed Pairs District title with Des Hean and thus qualified to represent this district at the National Mixed Pairs competition (having won this national title previously with Mark Robertson in 2001).