Softball community: one of us is hurting and, hopefully, we can come together to help in a time of need.

Travel ball Head Coach Carey Schiller-Jones, along with her husband Stan and softball-playing daughter Dakota, lost all of their physical possessions when a devasting fire destroyed their apartment complex on Saturday, July 27.

Schiller-Jones led her Athletics Gold Tamborra/Schiller-Jones team to a 68-12-3 record over the last year including capturing the 2024 9U USSSA National Championship. The fire occurred barely a week afterwards.

A GoFundMe has been started to help raise funds towards “starting over…” Click HERE to learn more about the fundraiser and how to make a donation.

https://gofund.me/6ddaf64f

Coach Carey already holds a lot of “firsts” in the young history of the Athletics – Tamborra club organization:

• 1st win in organization history (2023),
• 1st tournament championship in Athletics – Tamborra history (2023),
• 1st national championship in organization history (2024).

Not only did the Schiller-Jones family lose all possessions, they and others in their Bell Collier Village apartment in Atlanta, Georgia, have faced the added stress of leaving behind pets who survived the fire and ensuing water damage, but weren’t able to retrieve their animals due to safety issues.

Here’s more on this story from WSB-TV as well as FOX 5 News:

Athletics program head Stacy Tamborra helped start the GoFundMe which has a goal of raising $25,000.

“Carey is one of the most giving, loving and invested coaches, instructors and friends anyone could ever ask for. Our friendship of over 23 years has grown from competitors on the field playing against each other when I was at Florida State and she at Georgia Tech to working together at Champions, raising families together and now coaching together with Athletics Gold Tamborra.”

“It’s an honor and privilege to walk with Carey and her husband Stan and watch their beautiful and talented daughter Dakota literally grow up in Champions.”

Tamborra explains why the GoFundMe was quickly put together and is already close to reaching 50 percent of the intended goal of $25,000.

“This horrible tragedy has taken absolutely everything they own which is just so hard to fathom,” Tamborra continues.

“This is a time for family friends and our softball community to wrap our arms around them, love on them and provide for them in any way possible. I can assure you that this beautiful family would jump at the opportunity to help others in their same situation.”

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball