The £9m Xcel Leisure Centre in Canley, Coventry, has officially opened.

The centre – which was 12 years in the making – boasts a fitness suite, a group exercise room, a 25m swimming pool with viewing gallery, a health suite with sauna, steam room, and spa pool, a large sports hall, a bar/café, a crèche, a children’s play and party area and a community room.

Externally there are three full-size and mini-football pitches, a cricket pitch, two floodlit five-a-side third generation football pitches, a number of floodlit tennis and netball courts and a children’s play area.

Sebastian Coe, the chair of the London Organising Committee for the London Olympic Games, opened the site – to be run by registered charity the Coventry Sports Foundation.

Coe said he thought the centre could help Coventry attract international teams during the Olympics, saying: “It’s not just about attracting a little bit of transient trade, it’s about giving local youngsters the chance to see how world-class competitors train to inspire and guide them.”