PORTLAND, Ore.— The Portland Timbers today announced the club’s coaching staff, naming Trevor James and Amos Magee as assistant coaches and Adam Smith as the goalkeeper coach. Timbers head coach John Spencer made the announcement.
Additionally, the Timbers appointed Nik Wald as the club’s head athletic trainer and Karim Derqaoui (der-COW-ee) as the strength and conditioning coach for their inaugural Major League Soccer season in 2011.
James joins the Timbers after five seasons as an assistant with the LA Galaxy, while Magee, Smith, Wald and Derqaoui continue their tenure with the club having previously worked with the Timbers’ second-division side.
“It is a great day for me and the club to have these guys, with their experience, on board,” said Spencer. “They will not only be very important to me, but also to the development of the soccer side of this football club.”
During his five seasons with the Galaxy, James, 49, helped the club to a Western Conference championship in 2009, an appearance in the 2009 MLS Cup and a return trip to the conference title match last season. In addition to serving as an assistant coach, he also was the Galaxy’s director of player development and oversaw the club’s youth academy. Prior to joining the Galaxy in 2006, James coached at various levels in England, including work at Ipswich Town, Colchester United and as a first team assistant and chief scout at Cambridge United.
James’ 10-plus year playing career began in 1975 with Ipswich Town. He played for Norway’s Viking Stavangar and Colchester United before finishing his career in the United States with the Los Angeles Lazers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. James, born in Norwich, England, holds coaching licenses from U.S. Soccer, UEFA and the Football Association (England), where he was on the coaching education staff.
Magee, a former MLS player, joins Spencer’s staff after two seasons as an assistant coach with the Timbers’ second-division club. With the Timbers, Magee, 39, helped coach the team to back-to-back playoff appearances, win the 2009 USL First Division regular-season championship and a league-record, 24-game unbeaten streak in 2009. Before joining the Timbers’ sidelines, Magee was the head coach for the Minnesota Thunder of United Soccer Leagues from 2006-08 and also coached with the U.S. Maccabi Men’s Open Team.
Magee spent most of this 13-year playing career with the Minnesota Thunder (1991-2004), but also played parts of three seasons in MLS with the Tampa Bay Mutiny (2000-01) and Chicago Fire (2001-02). A forward, he tallied 64 goals and 39 assists for the Thunder and led the team to a league title in 1999. For his achievements as a player, Magee was inducted into the USL Hall of Fame in 2008. He holds a USSF ‘A’ coaching license.
Smith, 39, first joined the Timbers for the club’s USSF Division-2 Pro League season in 2010 and oversaw Portland’s goalkeeping unit that ranked among league leaders in shutouts (13) and fewest goals allowed (23) and finished with a combined 0.76 goals-against average. With more than 19 years of coaching experience at the professional, collegiate and youth levels, Smith’s credentials include two seasons (2003-04) with the Wilmington Hammerheads, where he won the USL Second Division title in 2003 as a player/assistant coach.
From England, his playing career began in the youth academy of English Premier League club Everton and he played professionally for eight years for clubs in England, Scotland, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States. He also represented his country in goal at the Independent Schoolboys U-16 and Full England Colleges levels. Smith owns several coaching certificates, including a USSF ‘A’ license and is currently working towards his UEFA ‘A’ license.
Wald, a native of Eugene, Ore., served as the club’s head athletic trainer for the past four seasons, while the Timbers competed as a USL franchise. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in exercise and movement science in 2003 and has worked with professional athletes for six years as a certified athletic trainer. Prior to joining the Timbers organization, Wald interned with the training staff of the National Basketball Association’s Portland Trail Blazers during the 2003-04 season.
Derqaoui first joined the Timbers during the club’s final second-division season in 2010 as the strength and conditioning coach. Born in Morocco, Derqaoui earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in exercise physiology from San Francisco State University and holds certifications from the American College of Sports Medicine and National Strength and Conditioning Association. Prior to arriving in Portland, he conducted soccer-specific research, focusing on passing biomechanics and touch development.
