Preseason Camp Notes: Day 1
March 19, 2007 - PGE Park
TODAY AT TRAINING: Twenty four players (14 signed) reported for the Timbers’ first day of training camp this morning at PGE Park.
Signed players included defenders Kevin Meissner, Lee Morrison, Cameron Knowles, Leonard Griffin, Garrett Marcum and Scot Thompson. Midfielders in camp included Neil Dombrowski, Andrew Gregor, Kiki Lara, Lawrence Olum, Tom Poltl and Troy Ready. Rounding out the list of signed players at training today were forward David Hague and goalkeeper Josh Wicks.
ON THE AGENDA: New Timbers head coach and general manager Gavin Wilkinson ran his players through multiple conditioning-based drills, including a monitored running test during the two-hour training session. He also had his players get some touches on the ball in a few small-sided possession games.
ABOUT THE MANAGER: The upcoming 2007 season marks Wilkinson’s first season as a head coach, but he has been a member of the Timbers organization since it joined United Soccer Leagues in 2001. The former defender is among the Timbers franchise leaders in both games and minutes played, currently ranked third with 124 games and 10,181 minutes in a Timbers’ kit. Last season, Wilkinson served as a player / assistant coach under Chris Agnello. Prior to joining the Timbers, Wilkinson played professionally overseas in Ireland, Portugal, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The New Zealand native was appointed head coach and general manager on September 26, 2006.
ONLINE: Click here to view pictures from the first day of training.
