As a rookie, midfielder Josh Cameron gets to experience preseason training camp unlike many of his veteran teammates - new experiences, first games, and new emotions. He talks about his first impressions of the Timbers Army, his progress in training camp and the relief of finishing his college finals in his newest edition of the Camp Report.
Here is the latest edition of Josh's Camp Report:
Hello again. Welcome back. It’s been a great week. We concluded the week with tie against the Red Bulls at University of Portland and the news that Portland is getting an MLS team in 2011. That will be great for the city and state. It’s an exciting day for the city of Portland and all the Timbers fans.
Since my last update, we had a few days of practice. On Tuesday (March 17), we started off the morning doing some fitness. We ran a similar version of the cooper test-12 minute run, trying to get in two miles. It’s a pretty grueling run. After the running we got into some technical stuff and finished with some playing where the losers had to do some extra conditioning at the end of practice. To our surprise…we were given the afternoon off which was much needed as most of legs were pretty heavy and sore.
On Wednesday (March 18) we got back to the two-a-days. We did some technical stuff and little playing in the morning. The afternoon was devoted mainly to finishing. We did some pretty fun shooting drills in hopes that it might carry over to our game on Friday. After the shooting, we played some small sided games focusing on playing in a tight area as well as finishing. Overall it was a pretty fun yet productive day.
Thursday (March 19) we went back to a single practice as it is the day before our game. It was a pretty light session with some 5 vs. 2, and a little playing at the end of practice. We worked on some set pieces throughout our playing in preparation for the game. Being a rookie, I had to help get all the gear organized for the game. I brought some balls, pennies and cones home with me to bring to the field the next day for our game.
Game day!!! Friday (March 20) was great, we got to sleep in and it was game day. What more can you ask for? We got to University of Portland at around 5 p.m. and got treatment and prepared ourselves for the game. We warmed up. It was nice to see some family and friends in the crowd as people started showing up. This was also my first experience with the Timber’s Army, and I must say, they are pretty awesome. I have never seen anything like them. The game was hard fought and ended in a tie.
After the game we went to Portsmouth Pizza for an after game event sponsored by Red Bull. We enjoyed some pizza and were given the weekend off to rest and prepare ourselves for next week. It was a great week and I look forward to starting Week No. 3, especially now that my classes are finished and I do not have to worry about that. It takes a lot of stress off me and it feels pretty good! Until next time, take care!
Posted by: Josh Cameron
