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A 22-year-old assistant junior varsity basketball coach in Portsmouth, Virginia, posed as a student in order to participate in a game. As a result, she’s now out of a job!
The odd situation involves Arlisha Boykins—a JV basketball coach at Churchland High School—and it occurred during a Jan. 21 game, according to WAVY-TV.
It turns out that a 13-year-old student-athlete was unable to attend the match-up, which was held at Nansemond River High School in Suffolk. As a result, Arlisha apparently took it upon herself to step up and participate in the game.
Once the gig was reported to school officials, Arlisha was fired from her position. Additionally, the varsity basketball coach was fired as well, as the employee was accused of “encouraging the behavior.”
We should add that it’s not entirely clear how Arlisha got caught up.
After news broke, the father of the child who was impersonated spoke on the matter and shared that he couldn’t believe a coach would go to such lengths.
“Coaches always preach to the kids about integrity and those types of things, so I was just shocked.”
He went on to note that, while he acknowledges that action was taken against Arlisha Boykins, the family is waiting for an apology from the school.
“I just need an apology because I have yet to receive one from the overseer of the program or nothing…There was no apology issued personally to us.”
Additionally, he shared that the family has decided to have their daughter attend a different high school next year.
After the coaches were fired, administrators met with parents and student-athletes to discuss the situation.
It was ultimately decided that, in light of much a big scandal, simply scrapping the current JV and varsity seasons would be the best decision.
What are your thoughts on a JV coach posing as a student to rack up some points? Additionally, do you agree
