Obama Says He Had To Quit Coaching Sasha's Basketball Team After Rival Parents Complained

In an excerpt from his memoir A Promised Land published in the Sunday Times, former President Barack Obama reminisced about his time coaching his daughter Sasha's elementary school basketball team.

Although he recalled the time he spent with fondness, having enjoyed more traditional quality time with his daughter at the Washington D.C. school Sidwell Friends, Obama revealed he stopped after complaints came from parents about his involvement.

Obama had paired up with former Duke University basketball player Reggie Love to conduct practices for the team.

Obama wrote:

"After observing an adorable, but chaotic, first couple of games, Reggie and I took it upon ourselves to draw up some plays and volunteered to conduct a few informal Sunday afternoon practice sessions with the team. We worked on the basics: dribbling, passing, making sure your shoelaces were tied before you ran onto the court."

He continued:

"And although Reggie could get a little too intense when we ran drills—'Paige, don't let Isabel punk you like that'—the girls seemed to have as much fun as we did."

However, shortly after the team, named the Vipers, celebrated a close win, parents began to voice their complaints.

Obama explained:

"But of course nothing about our lives was completely normal anymore as I was reminded the following year, when, in true Washington fashion a few of the parents from a rival Sidwell team started complaining to the Vipers coaches and presumably the school that Reggie and I weren't offering training sessions to their kids, too."

He added:

"We explained that there was nothing special about our practices. That it was just an excuse for me to spend extra time with Sasha. And we offered to help other parents organize practices of their own."

With persistent complaints however the 44th President noted that it was "simpler for all concerned" for him to go back to cheering the team on from the sidelines.

Obama elaborated on his feelings saying:

"given all the time I'd missed with the girls over years of campaigning and legislative sessions, I cherished the normal dad stuff that much more."

Many Twitter users empathized with the respected former President on the struggles of coaching and dealing with other parents.

One brought out an apt example after this 2020 election…

Now a decade later Sasha Obama is a sophomore at the University of Michigan.

President Obama's memoir was released on November 17, 2020 by Crown Publishing Group.