(RoyalPatriot.com )- After impersonating one of her junior varsity players during a game, a 22-year-old assistant basketball coach and the head coaches of the JV and varsity teams were fired.
According to reports, Arlisha Boykins, an assistant coach at Churchland High School in the Portsmouth School District of Virginia, took the place of a 13-year-old student who could not attend her game in mid-January. Boykins dressed up and played with the team.
That night, the student was playing a game with a club team, not realizing until after the fact that Boykins had impersonated her. The student and her family have since asked the coach and the school to apologize.
Boykins competed against girls between the ages of 14 and 15. She made layups, blocked shots, and made free throws. She appeared to be a typical teenage player.
According to the game day video, Boykins, wearing the #1 jersey and towering over the other girls, dominated the court while easily navigating around the opposing team.
The student’s father spoke with sports reporter Craig Loper II of WAVY News in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He said that what surprised him the most about the situation was that something like this could happen after the coaches frequently told students about the importance of integrity. The father claimed that the coach did not apologize after informing him of the situation.
Reports show Arlisha Boykins was let go, along with the school’s JV and Varsity head coaches, who had allegedly encouraged the fraud.
Sources informed WAVY-TV that Boykins’ behavior was encouraged by the varsity coach. Both the varsity head coach and the head coach for the junior varsity were also fired.
Arlisha Boykins was on the JV team from August 29, 2022, until January 25, 2023.
After the incident, the Churchland team decided not to play the rest of the season. The impersonated student has decided against attending Churchland High School again next year.
