Kelsie Crow’s death in no way defines the life she led – a life cut short at 17 years Saturday when she was shot and killed in Walnut Hills.

Friends, teammates and officials with Kolping United Soccer Club have made that much clear.

Mourners swapped tales of battles won on the field with Kelsie at their side, and other stories, during a Wednesday event at Kolping Center on Mill Road in Springfield Township.

Adults in the room, particularly the soccer club’s leaders, said the event aimed to facilitate a safe grieving environment for members of the club.

Some of those adults, including former Kolping United President Rick Hill, made emotional remarks directed at Kelsie’s killer.

“As far as the shooter or shooters, all I can do is implore them to turn themselves in. I’d like to see them be the man or woman that they think they are by shooting a defenseless child. I’d like to see them do the right thing,” Hill said.

Kelsie, an avid soccer player and member of Kolping United Soccer Club’s Under-17 team, died after the shooting near the Melrose Family YMCA in Walnut Hills.

For Kelsie’s teammates, the story of their beloved friend doesn’t begin and end with Saturday’s tragedy.

Attendees of the Wednesday event described Kelsie the soccer player as equal parts defensive enforcer and on-field goofball. And, of course, there was the unmistakable box-out move Kelsie used to gain and keep possession of the ball.

“If someone fell down on the opposite team, initially, she would look at me or (someone else), and we’d just laugh,” said Megan Larkin, 17, a teammate of Kelsie’s for seven years. “If we got hurt, she would get them back for us. She had our backs.”

The Kolping United U17’s first games since Kelsie’s death are scheduled for this weekend at Joyce Park in Hamilton. The team plans to play the games, part of the Mid-American Soccer Classic (MASC), in honor of Kelsie, according to club officials.

Kelsie’s cousin and Kolping United teammate Natallie Segrist-Bellamah, 17, told The Enquirer on Monday the team will make T-shirts and headbands to be worn during this weekend’s games to honor Kelsie.

In addition to playing for the Kolping United U17’s, Kelsie was a member of Purcell Marian High School’s varsity girls’ team. And while soccer was one of her passions, enduring memories of Kelsie were also shaped away from the game.

Teammates will remember “her laugh. The way she uplifted people. She’s just an amazing girl. If you were having a bad day, she knew how to make you happy. She never judged a person and she didn’t see color. She just saw you as you,” Larkin said. “It’s terrible that she’s gone.”

Kolping United’s U-17’s tentative MASC weekend tournament schedule

Saturday, April 13

Kolping United versus Thunder United White, 8 a.m.

Waterloo United versus Kolping United, 1:20 p.m.

Sunday, April 12

Kolping Havoc versus Kolping United, 12:10 p.m.

Final, 3:50 p.m.