Basketball Coach Fired After Impersonating 13-Year-Old Player During Game

The 22-year-old assistant JV coach in Portsmouth, Virginia, was canned after the girl's parents complained to school officials.

An assistant high school basketball coach in Virginia has been fired after impersonating a 13-year-old player during a game this past weekend.

Arlisha Boykins, 22, an assistant junior varsity basketball coach at Churchland High School in Portsmouth, was canned from the job after the parents of a girl she was reportedly impersonating complained to school officials, sports journalist Craig Loper first reported for local NBC affiliate WAVY TV.

Portsmouth Public Schools confirmed to HuffPost that Boykins “is no longer an employee.”

“Coaches always preach to the kids about integrity and those types of things, so I was just shocked,” the father of the 13-year-old told Loper.

Sources told the channel that the varsity coach was “encouraging the behavior” during the game and has also been fired. The JV head coach, too, is “no longer working for the division,” the school district told HuffPost.

Footage of Boykins wearing the No. 1 can be seen in the news video below.

HuffPost has reached out to Boykins for comment.

The players on both the JV and varsity teams decided at a team meeting attended by their parents not to continue the season, the school district said. The varsity and JV teams’ calendars show the remaining games have been canceled.

Meanwhile, the parents of the girl whom Boykins impersonated say their daughter is no longer interested in attending Churchland High School.

They told WAVY they are still waiting for school officials to apologize.

This is not the first incident this month in which an adult attempted to blend in with teenage students.

Last week, New Jersey police and school officials accused Hyejeong Shin, 29, of providing a forged birth certificate in order to enroll at New Brunswick High School.

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