A typical week for the young handball player is dominated by training and study schedules: “During the summer break, I can do my individual training, strength training and jogging to keep fit. In preparation for the season, our team trains six to seven times a week,” says Niklas. During such phases, it is sometimes difficult to coordinate lectures and sporting activities. To make both compatible, the athlete and master’s student now receives support from the scholarship. In addition, Jan Willner, the elite sports representative for Heilbronn’s universities, is available to advise him at the TUM Campus Heilbronn. “Jan is a great help, especially when it comes to organizing my timetable and coordinating it with my sports schedule. The financial support is also a nice bonus, of course.”

His Mum as a Role Model

Sport has always played a major role in Niklas’s life. “My dad used to play football and my mum played handball. I tried both sports, but I was a bit better at handball and was selected for the Württemberg team at an early age. So the decision wasn’t difficult for me.” It’s a passion that definitely involves a lot of suffering: “As a pivot, you get hit a bit harder than the others – that’s part of the job,” he says with a laugh. However, the career of a professional handball player is finite, and compared to football, there is less money to be earned. “It’s not realistic to expect to be set for life after my career, even if I get the most out of myself,” he says. That’s why studying isn’t Plan B for Niklas, but Plan A. Unfortunately, there’s always the possibility that his career will end quickly: “I want to be prepared for that eventuality.” Even if the pressure is completely different, because: “At the end of the day, I’ve always known the stress of sport. The curriculum presents different challenges than the training schedule.”

The pressure increases when exams are coming up at the end of the semester or papers are due. “If I have a lecture at 10 a.m., I go to the gym at around 8 a.m. and then I have team training in the evening.” Nevertheless, studying at TUM Campus Heilbronn after his bachelor’s degree in auditing at DHBW Stuttgart was a fortunate move for Niklas: “There aren’t that many universities that offer an attractive master’s degree in management, and the Heilbronn location is a win-win situation for me, of course.” He shares his ambition and course with another sponsored top athlete: Felix Nack is a canoeist and also belongs to the first cohort of 18 athletes who received a top-level sports scholarship. “We talked about the subject, which reinforced my decision to apply.”

Regionally Rooted, Internationally Active

The process was quite simple: a letter of recommendation from the coach, a letter of motivation and a personal interview with Willner. “It gives me the opportunity to develop both academically and athletically without having to make any compromises. I can only recommend it to everyone.” As a child of the region, he can also give his fellow students other useful recommendations: “Since I always choose new courses and don’t have a fixed class, I always meet different people. Of course, they also ask me for tips on where to go out.” If his tight schedule and his hobby of golf allow, he is happy to join them.

He spends the summer and the off-season in another country that is crazy about handball: Denmark. His stays abroad are also carefully planned: “I’m away until mid-August. So I’ll be back in time for the season.” All this for one goal: “My favorite club is SG Flensburg-Handewitt. It would be a dream to play there.”

More information about the elite sports scholarship is available online: https://www.spitzensport-stipendium.de/bewerbung

Contact the elite sports representative for Heilbronn’s universities at

willner@spitzensport-stipendium.de