The reason for the visit was the cooperation between the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation and the WHU Center for Sports and Management. The 41CAMPUS was the result of this cooperation. 41CAMPUS offers young people working as trainers and social workers the chance to benefit from Dirk Nowitzkis' experience and to complete a scientifically founded further education as a "GameChanger". Nowitzki presented the first generation of "GameChangers", who successfully completed their training, with their certificates at WHU. "I want to do for others what my mentor Holger Geschwindner did for me," Nowitzki explained his motivation.
The 41-year-old, who ended his active basketball career in April of this year, has also recently been included in the curriculum. The case study "Dirk Nowitzki: Changing the Game" written by Professor Sascha L. Schmidt together with Harvard Professor Boris Groysberg has already been used several times in teaching at WHU and Harvard Business School. It deals with lifelong learning and the options the superstar has for the time after his active sports career.