National League club Miramar Rangers will have a new Director of Football and head coach for 2023, with the appointment of Kale Herbert.
Herbert (30) was an assistant coach with Rangers in 2022 after previously coaching National League club Hamilton Wanderers.
Main photo: Kale Herbert … takes over as head coach at Miramar Rangers. Photo: Photomac.
He replaces Scott Hales who has stepped down from the roles, after taking over as head coach in 2021 after leading Team Wellington to the national title.
Hales coached Miramar to victory in the National League-South Central Series in 2021 as the club also reached its first Chatham Cup final in 12 years. The side also achieved back-to-back runner-up places in the Central League.
Miramar Rangers chairman John Cameron said: “As a club, we would like to thank Scott for his significant contribution these past few seasons both on and off the field with Miramar Rangers and Team Wellington and we wish him well in his new journey.”
Announcing Herbert as Hales’ successor, the club said he would coach the club in the Central League in 2023, seeking to qualify for next season’s National League, and would coach the club’s U-19 squad.
Herbert said: “After spending the last year working with the club and its players, I’m really excited to take on the opportunity to step into the head coach role at Miramar Rangers. I really look forward to getting started and continuing to develop a team and culture that we can be proud of.”
Chairman Cameron said: “I am excited about Kale accepting the club’s offer to promote him to the first team coach and director of football and wish him all the best.”
Kale Herbert’s coaching career
Herbert has had a rapid rise through the coaching ranks.
Having moved from Wellington to Taupo in 2015, Herbert was appointed first team coach at Taupo AFC for the 2016 season, with the club achieving promotion from the WaiBOP Championship to the WaiBOP Premiership.
For the summer of 2017-18, he assisted his father, former All Whites and Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert, in coaching the Hamilton Wanderers national league side. This led to Kale Herbert’s appointment as head coach of Wanderers’ winter side to play in the Northern League Premier Division.
In the summer of 2019-20, he took over from father Ricki as the head coach of the Hamilton Wanderers team playing in the ISPS Handa Premiership, becoming one of the youngest coaches ever in the New Zealand national league and he successfully guided them to the playoffs for the first time in their history, losing to eventual champions Team Wellington.
Kale Herbert has also held roles with the Ricki Herbert Football Academy and Hamilton’s St Paul’s Collegiate, giving him extensive experience in the junior and youth development space.
Rangers say he is looking forward to applying that experience to the recently established Miramar Rangers Football Academy.
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