Alumni sports stars of the University of Nottingham have celebrated the official opening of the David Ross Sports Village.

The £40 million sports village is a state-of-the-art facility on University Park campus. It includes an indoor fencing salle, dance and spin studios, an all-glass squash court, an outdoor full-sized 3G rubber crumb pitch, tennis courts and gym.

It also boasts a brand new Sports Injury Clinic that can provide treatments such as hydrotherapy, acupuncture, specialist physiotherapy and sports massages, to staff, students, and the local community.

Olympic table tennis champion Dr Deng Yaping and gold medal-winning canoeists, Dr Tim Brabants MBE and Etienne Stott MBE, were among the line-up of sporting legends who joined fellow alumni David Ross and UK Sport CEO Liz Nicholl for the centre’s opening celebrations.

The Sports Village was made possible by a significant commitment from Nottingham alumnus and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross, who studied law at the University.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham Professor Sir David Greenaway said the centre was the fitting environment to engage students and staff, whatever their interests, and inspire the sports stars of the future:

“From David Ross’ generous donation, to the support of our Olympians, the scope and scale of alumni talent is clear. To be successful at anything takes drive, grit, determination and practice,” he commented.

“Our alumni have been showcasing these attributes for many years and I have followed their achievements with pride, knowing Nottingham may have laid the foundations for some of their successes. Today we celebrate a physical foundation, a complex of sporting facilities to be proud of and one which will inspire the next generation of athletes.”

You can see all the highlights of the opening ceremony on our latest YouTube video.