While most of the coaches involved on the Pro Licence course have had to travel a short distance up the M1, one man will travel almost 100,000 miles in his bid to secure the highest coaching award on offer.

As the Head Coach of the New Zealand national team, Ricki Herbert is keen to stay on track with the latest coaching techniques this side of the equator, and he got his first taste this week.

Speaking exclusively to TheFA.com, Herbert said: "It's been great, from a personal point of view I've covered all the coaching badges now and I count myself as fortunate to be working on this course here in England.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed it, the people who deliver the course are really at the top of the education system. And geographically from where we are to here in England, it is always important to keep abreast of things that are happening in football and this course certainly helps on that side of things."

Herbert is not completely new to English football, however, having played for Wolverhampton Wanderers during the 1980s, but his thirst for new developments will never cease.

"It's that old cliche you never stop learning," admitted Herbert. "We've got players playing inthe Premier League, in Europe and in America so globally it's important to stay at the forefront of how the game is evolving.

"We're encouraging all our coaches who are coming through, perhaps on the A Licence or the B Licence, to really invest in these courses."

As a member of the New Zealand squad that travelled to the World Cup in Spain in 1982, Herbert knows what it feels like to represent his country on the global stage. Now he is eager to see the Kiwis in the limelight again.

"The game in New Zealand is huge, both male and female, but at the moment it is just up to a certain age and hopefully we can build towards people following it right through.

"We are hosting a Women's Under-17s World Championship next year which will be fantastic for the game.

"There are more kids playing football than anyother sport at the minute, so certainly from that side of things everything is looking bright."