EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — One of the lasting impacts of the pandemic has been mental health for students who went an entire year without their usual social interactions. But now, youth sports coaches say things are finally looking up.
It's the moment 11-year-old Ryan Schuster has been waiting for all day. It's finally time for him to get ready for basketball practice, a sport he describes as "life."
But one look at his room, and you can tell he isn't exaggerating, so when the pandemic hit and all five of the sports he played came to a screeching halt, Ryan said he really felt like he lost a part of who he is.
"Any time I don't do perfect on anything I want to kill myself. Not literally. But I get really mad at myself. And basketball is an outlet to calming myself and when that got taken away I was just building up frustration and I probably was ending up punching pillows," Schuster explained.
The fits of anger were concerning for his mom, Marie Elena Rigo, who said both Ryan and her 8-year-old daughter developed anxiety and depression as the pandemic dragged on.
It got so severe that she consulted a therapist when they started making comments about no longer wanting to be alive if they couldn't go to school or see their friends.
But when basketball finally resumed a few months ago, Rigo said Ryan's mental health improved drastically.
"He was acting out at home, yelling, he was even hitting us. And none of that is happening anymore," she said.
Jason Simon is the coach and vice president of Ryan's travel ball team, West Coast Elite Basketball.
He said it's not just Ryan that has seen major improvements since they resumed.
Most of the kids have done a 180-degree turnaround.
"There's so much joy that comes from sports, and so the kids are getting the opportunity to live normal lives, to see their friends, to work out. Be able to go through and just live healthy lifestyles," Simon said.
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 24% increase in emergency room visits surrounding mental health for children ages 5 through 11 and for ages 12 to 17, a 30% increase.
But now, as these age groups are able to get back to some sort of normalcy, anyone can see the joy on Ryan's face as he explains why being here makes all the difference.
"You run up and down the court a lot and it gets you a ton of exercise, but I don't know, it's super fun and entertaining," he said, so excited he could barely keep up with the words.
But the best part is watching his teammates get better, he said.
The city of Los Angeles recently launched a low-cost program called Play LA to make sports more accessible to all children. To register, visit www.Laparks.Org/play-la.