Newbery believes he is following in the footsteps of other world champions and world record holders who are all surrounded by good, solid teams, like Ruben Vanhollebeke and Paul Remaut.
“The communication is good [with Jacqui], as is the level of trust and reliance – if either of us makes a mistake, it’s not the end of the world and we keep battling on,” he says.
“That’s what is most important. Even though I’m doing the shooting, I rely heavily on [her] and I know what she is telling me is to achieve the best outcome for us.”
Jacqui enjoyed a promising archery career of her own, earning bronze at Sydney’s Indoor Archery Festival in 2020 before hanging up her bow to focus on assisting her father.
“To be able to take dad somewhere that is fulfilling his passion and be there with him when he’s awarded medals, it’s a pretty special bond and I feel like I’m representing the family,” she says.
As a spotter, Jacqui makes sure her dad’s equipment is aligned at the shooting line and during scoring, calls arrows and keeps an eye on the clock.
“He does all the aiming and shooting and I give him feedback on what I’ve observed after the shoot, then we make adjustments,” she explains. “And I offer a bit of moral support as well!”
