Portland Timbers

The Portland Tribune, Mar 16, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Training camp opens Monday, although some players will come later.

• Twelve of the 15 players under contract through Wednesday are ages 24 to 27. The youngest is Kenyan midfielder Lawrence Olum, 22, a student at Missouri Baptist. The oldest is Andrew Gregor, 31.

• Defender Cameron Knowles is the tallest player in the fold at 6-3. Of the other newcomers, Olum is 6-2, forwards Chris Bagley and David Hague and midfielder Neil Dombrowski are 6-0. Size was lacking last year, with most of the forwards and midfielders well under 6 feet. New coach Gavin Wilkinson took the job saying he wanted more of a taller “presence, demeanor.”

• Attitude will be big with Wilkinson this season. “It looked like we had a lot of players who floated through games last year,” he says.

• The most serious preseason match will be April 15 against Vancouver at Alder Creek Middle School. Tickets will be $6 for the 4 p.m. game. The season opener is April 21 at home against Puerto Rico.

– Jason Vondersmith

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