High school coach fired after impersonating 13-year-old girl / News - Basketnews.com

A high school basketball coach in Virginia has been fired after impersonating a 13-year-old player in a game.

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Arlisha Boykins, a 22-year-old high school assistant coach on the Churchland junior varsity girls' basketball team in Portsmouth, Virginia, suited up for the Truckers while a 13-year-old student-athlete was out of town at a club basketball tournament, parents of the girl told NBC affiliate WAVY-TV 10.

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

In video footage from the January 21 game, which took place in Suffolk against Nansemond River, Boykins can be seen wearing a black No. 1 jersey for Churchland while playing in the contest.

Boykins, who was going up against 14-and-15-year-old girls, recorded a block and drove to the basket for a layup in highlights obtained by WAVY. She was also seen interacting with the team, shooting free throws, and at one point, dove into the stands for a loose ball.

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 girl's parents 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.

"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 WAVY TV.

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.

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