To quote musical artist Rae Sremmurd, “Get you somebody who can do both.” Well, European Playboy Club creator Bekka Hauri does more than both—she is the modern day trifecta. Not only is this international model also a volleyball star, but she is well on her way to obtaining a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH).
Bekka keeps extremely busy these days between her school, volleyball and content schedules.
To this point, she has built a digital following of over 335K users across Instagram and TikTok. Splitting time between California and Switzerland makes it all possible for Bekka and in her case, the grind is well worth it.
Undoubtedly, Hauri is one of the hardest working women in the industry. Still, Bekka took some down time to chat with Playboy’s Gabriel Santiago about everything that makes this triple threat tick—volleyball, college, globetrotting, sightseeing and more.
Playboy: Tell me about your childhood. Where did you grow up?
Bekka: I grew up in Berne, Switzerland, born and raised. I’ve pretty much lived here my whole life. I went to school here and have two sisters. Later on, I moved to the United States. I don’t remember how old I was, it was in 2018 I think.
Playboy: What’s your origin story as an athlete, or how did you first get into playing sports?
Bekka: Well, I started off as a ballerina. I began dancing when I was three years old, and pretty much until I was 14, all I did was dance: jazz, ballet, hip hop and all that. After a while, I was like, “I’m getting bored of individual sports.” I had one of my friends playing volleyball in school, so I was interested to try it out. From there, everything went pretty quickly for me. I started off on a local team but that level wasn’t challenging enough, so I went on to a more competitive team: Volley Köniz. I played for them for three seasons. We won the 17U championship, and two years after, we won the 19U championship.
Playboy: That’s awesome! How did things take off from there?
Bekka: When I went to high school, I did “sports” high school. We call it “Swiss Volley Talent School.” They take the best players within your region and you practice together. It gives you more time to practice with top talent. It was also boys and girls mixed together. For me, I love practicing with guys because they serve and hit harder. After that, I played with a lot of different clubs in Switzerland. I always had a double license so I could play for two clubs at once to get as much experience as possible. When that was over, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study in college, but I had a friend that just returned from the U.S. She did a year playing college volleyball overseas and that seemed so cool, so I applied and I got a scholarship at Coppin State University.
Playboy: Who was your favorite volleyball player growing up?
Bekka: I have to be honest, I didn’t really have one. I always enjoyed watching volleyball, but there was never a player that made me say, “Oh my gosh, I am a fan.” When I was little, we went to play in Italy. Since then, I’ve always loved the Italian national team. Monica “Moki” De Gennaro—I love her. She is one of the best liberos and that’s the position that I play. I’m only 5’7, so I’ve always played libero and I’m fine with that. I love diving for the ball and making saves. I love De Gennaro. She makes it look so easy and is definitely a libero that I look up to.
Playboy: Tell me about your experience playing college ball for the Coppin State Eagles.
Bekka: It’s a small Division I school in Baltimore, Maryland. I played there for four years which was absolutely amazing. I graduated from there with a Bachelor’s degree in biology/pre-med and then afterwards I had a fifth season because of COVID. With that, I transferred to Rollins College in Orlando, Florida after my fifth year. That’s also when I started my Master’s degree in public health, which I am still doing. But eventually, I ran out of volleyball eligibility so I decided to keep studying online after I received an offer to play professionally in Germany. I played there last year for BBSC Berlin.
Playboy: What was it like coming from Europe to attend an HBCU in Baltimore?
Bekka: For me, when I was looking at different schools and offers, the only criteria I had was I wanted to play Division I and I wanted a full ride. Right away, I had a great connection with the coach from Coppin State. I was super excited to go to an HBCU. I knew I would meet so many great people and I did. Our teams there were so amazing. It was so welcoming at Coppin. To this moment, I’m still on the phone with my old teammates every single day. It was the best decision for me, 100%.
Playboy: I love how you prioritize your education. How is your MPH degree coming along?
Bekka: It is coming to an end! Since it is online, I am on my own timeline. I should be done by the end of the year or in early 2025. I am still figuring out with my professor what my thesis will be. That’s what I’m working on now and I love it. For me, it was the best decision to go online. It gives me the freedom to still travel and play volleyball.
Playboy: Walk me through what your volleyball career is like these days.
Bekka: I am back in Switzerland. I committed to play for Volley Köniz again, where I started. It’s super awesome seeing it come full circle. We have an amazing team together and our goal is to win the championship, for sure. August and September have been preseason and we are figuring out the lineup, but official games start really soon. I do think it’s going really well and I’m quite positive that this team will be very competitive this season.
Playboy: What does a typical workout at the gym look like for you?
Bekka: Our team has an athletic trainer so he usually runs our workouts. I love that they are very volleyball specific. I’ve had many, many trainers throughout my career, but so far I think this is the most sport specific. In the beginning, it is a little bit weird. It’s more on speed, and obviously strength comes with speed, but it’s not about lifting heavy but more about which exercises will make us move faster and jump higher. I love that. It would be confusing to you in the beginning, but since training here, I’ve made a lot of progress—especially with agility and quickness.
Playboy: Changing gears, what first attracted you to working with Playboy? Can we call you the “Libero Bunny”?
Bekka: Yes, I would love that! I should definitely bring that in. For me, my brand is “the volleyball girl.” Volleyball is my life and my passion. So, when I started with Playboy, they reached out to me. I obviously knew about Playboy before. I even had some merchandise from them. I already thought it was a dope brand. The recognition value of Playboy is crazy. If you show someone the bunny, everyone knows, ‘Oh, that’s Playboy.’ I already loved the brand, but then they reached out about joining and I was like, ‘Heck yeah, of course! I would love that.’ It gave me the perfect platform to communicate with my followers. Coming to the U.S., I didn’t really have a large following. Through volleyball and social media pages shouting me out because of volleyball, I would receive a lot of messages. And on Instagram, you can’t always reply to everybody. Playboy really gives me a safe platform to connect with my following and I love that. I can talk to others and there’s a personal base for us to chat.
Playboy: What are your favorite beaches, both European and U.S.?
Bekka: I love Barcelona. It is one of my top cities in Europe because the beaches there are beautiful. There’s just a vibe there. I love Spain, in general. Also, Monaco is really pretty. In the U.S., I love Florida, so Miami is definitely my vibe. Or in Cali, I love Santa Monica!
Playboy: What is “a day in the life of Bekka Hauri” like?
Bekka: Depending on what day it is, I’ll wake up and do my gym routine. Sometimes our team has guided workouts or sometimes we have individual ones. I also like to do a little extra work such as cardio. I’ll get back home after that and eat something. Then, I study from 12 to early afternoon. Next, I head to volleyball practice, get back home, make dinner and check my messages. That’s that. It’s pretty full of practice and studying right now.
Read more: Why Jo Madden Ditched Accounting for Sports
Bekka Hauri is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her here.
