Feature by Kerston Corns, Sun Devil Media Relations Intern
Liane Blyn's mindset has remained the same since she was a college student herself.
"I decided I want to make things happen, rather than sit around and wait for things to happen."
With over 20 years of experience as a strength coach, athletic trainer and business owner, Blyn joined the Sun Devil staff in 2018 as the Director of Sports Performance and Olympic Sports.
A 14-time USA Powerlifting National Champion, 10-time U.S. National team member, and a four-time International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Champion, Blyn has been a pioneer for women in the sports performance industry.
In December, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) announced Blyn was designated as a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach Emeritus (RSCC*E), which is the NSCA's highest designation and signifies that a certified coach has demonstrated experience and knowledge in their field.
She's one of just 165 coaches who have obtained the RSCC*E designation.
"When I started, there were definitely not many women involved in the profession at all," Blyn said. "But to me, a coach is a coach, doesn't matter if your black, white, blue, green, male, female whatever; a coach is a coach."
TeamBuildr, an online strength and conditioning software, also recently named Blyn one of the top "Female Strength Coaches You Should Know".
Since joining Arizona State, she has helped transform the lives of hundreds of Sun Devil student-athletes. With a heavy focus around the Olympic sports, including heavy travel this season with the men's ice hockey team, Blyn brings a level of intensity that her student-athletes embody and thrive on.
"I don't have kids, but I view every single kid that I've coached as one of my kids," Blyn said in a 2019 interview with The State Press. "When the athletes know you care about them, they're going to do anything in the world for you. For me, I am doing everything I can to bring out the best in them. That's just the way I am."
But in March 2020, as did most of the world, Blyn's passion was put on pause when all athletic programs were shut down due the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
"I'm so used to going 1000 miles an hour and now I'm at a dead halt and what do I do?" Blyn said. "Everyone had to take a step back and actually give time to breathe and look at things in a different light and different perspective. It was good to kind of reset and step back."
Many of her student-athletes returned home, scattered to locations all around the world with every athlete having different access to workout facilities and equipment.
After quarantined at home for a few months without any hands-on coaching, Blyn – like she has throughout her personal and profession life -- began focusing on what she could do versus couldn't do.
Along with her strength staff, Blyn and her team developed countless workouts in all shapes and sizes. Some creating make-shift weights with textbooks, full water bottles, or any household items their student-athletes could utilize.
"Our staff was awesome putting together different workouts and different options for people to do because everyone had access to something different," she said. "Some people could go outside and run; some people still had full access to gyms -- really depending on what state you lived in.
"We have to modify things every day -- when athletes get hurt, or practices run long or short, or you just see an athlete that's burnt out and needs a break -- so as strength coaches we're used to adapting."
Without any work on campus for months, state health guidelines finally permitted players to return to campus during the summer and fall, and Blyn helped get the ball moving again for her student-athletes with strict procedures in place.
So far Blyn, her staff and the student-athletes have navigated the pandemic enough for sports to return to action with 20 of the 24 programs competing this spring with each day presenting a new challenge to face head on.
Blyn embraces every bit of it.
"I think we'll all come out better from this, having to deal with adversity, having to deal with lots of different things you've never had to deal with before and I think everyone is going to come out better," she said. "It may not seem like it now, but I think we will all come out better from this."
Liane Blyn's mindset has remained the same since she was a college student herself.
"I decided I want to make things happen, rather than sit around and wait for things to happen."
With over 20 years of experience as a strength coach, athletic trainer and business owner, Blyn joined the Sun Devil staff in 2018 as the Director of Sports Performance and Olympic Sports.
A 14-time USA Powerlifting National Champion, 10-time U.S. National team member, and a four-time International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Champion, Blyn has been a pioneer for women in the sports performance industry.
In December, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) announced Blyn was designated as a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach Emeritus (RSCC*E), which is the NSCA's highest designation and signifies that a certified coach has demonstrated experience and knowledge in their field.
She's one of just 165 coaches who have obtained the RSCC*E designation.
"When I started, there were definitely not many women involved in the profession at all," Blyn said. "But to me, a coach is a coach, doesn't matter if your black, white, blue, green, male, female whatever; a coach is a coach."
TeamBuildr, an online strength and conditioning software, also recently named Blyn one of the top "Female Strength Coaches You Should Know".
Since joining Arizona State, she has helped transform the lives of hundreds of Sun Devil student-athletes. With a heavy focus around the Olympic sports, including heavy travel this season with the men's ice hockey team, Blyn brings a level of intensity that her student-athletes embody and thrive on.
"I don't have kids, but I view every single kid that I've coached as one of my kids," Blyn said in a 2019 interview with The State Press. "When the athletes know you care about them, they're going to do anything in the world for you. For me, I am doing everything I can to bring out the best in them. That's just the way I am."
But in March 2020, as did most of the world, Blyn's passion was put on pause when all athletic programs were shut down due the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
"I'm so used to going 1000 miles an hour and now I'm at a dead halt and what do I do?" Blyn said. "Everyone had to take a step back and actually give time to breathe and look at things in a different light and different perspective. It was good to kind of reset and step back."
Many of her student-athletes returned home, scattered to locations all around the world with every athlete having different access to workout facilities and equipment.
After quarantined at home for a few months without any hands-on coaching, Blyn – like she has throughout her personal and profession life -- began focusing on what she could do versus couldn't do.
Along with her strength staff, Blyn and her team developed countless workouts in all shapes and sizes. Some creating make-shift weights with textbooks, full water bottles, or any household items their student-athletes could utilize.
"Our staff was awesome putting together different workouts and different options for people to do because everyone had access to something different," she said. "Some people could go outside and run; some people still had full access to gyms -- really depending on what state you lived in.
"We have to modify things every day -- when athletes get hurt, or practices run long or short, or you just see an athlete that's burnt out and needs a break -- so as strength coaches we're used to adapting."
Without any work on campus for months, state health guidelines finally permitted players to return to campus during the summer and fall, and Blyn helped get the ball moving again for her student-athletes with strict procedures in place.
So far Blyn, her staff and the student-athletes have navigated the pandemic enough for sports to return to action with 20 of the 24 programs competing this spring with each day presenting a new challenge to face head on.
Blyn embraces every bit of it.
"I think we'll all come out better from this, having to deal with adversity, having to deal with lots of different things you've never had to deal with before and I think everyone is going to come out better," she said. "It may not seem like it now, but I think we will all come out better from this."