From Career-Ending Injury To LA 2028 Olympic Comeback, Torrey Van Winden Pro Beach Volleyball Player

In this episode of the HumanizeHer Podcast, professional beach volleyball player and former tech Product Marketing Manager Torrey Van Winden joins us to discuss the systemic financial disparities facing female athletes, her experience overcoming career-threatening injuries, and her ambitious comeback bid for the LA 2028 Olympics.

Torrey left her stable corporate job to chase one thing: a spot on the 2028 LA Olympic team. She's a professional beach volleyball player and a newly named 2026 Cal Poly Hall of Famer - but this comeback almost didn't happen. In her first professional match out of college, she tore her ACL, fractured her femur and tibia, and learned her tour offered injured athletes nothing (not even health insurance). It took years of resentment before that pain turned into purpose. She rebuilt herself through rehab, then built a second career at GameChanger in Product Marketing. But this year, she gave up her apartment, became a nomad, and bet her entire savings on one more shot.

Inspired by a previous podcast clip highlighting the reality that many Olympic athletes receive zero income from their sport, Torrey shares her perspective on the stark gap between collegiate support systems and the domestic professional volleyball circuit. She shines a light on a pay gap most fans never hear about: her mother earned roughly 40 percent more on tour in 1998 than Torrey does today for the same finish. Drawing from her background in sport management, her tenure at tech company GameChanger, and her family's sports legacy, she outlines her vision for building a sustainable infrastructure for women in sports and leveraging her personal brand to drive meaningful change. Her own words: stop complaining about it, and do something about it. No sponsors. No guaranteed paycheck. Just her, betting on herself.

Key Highlights:

College-To-Pro Financial Drop-off: Discussion on how NCAA beach volleyball programs offer extensive support, whereas domestic professional leagues offer minimal financial security or medical safety nets - even as costs for elite training climb.

Overcoming Career-Threatening Injuries: Torrey recounts suffering a severe knee injury (ACL, meniscus, femur, and tibia fracture) in her pro debut and a subsequent re-injury, detailing the mental and physical recovery process that shifted her perspective from resentment to purpose.

Transitioning To Tech And Back: How an opportunity at GameChanger led to a role as a Product Marketing Mana