Coote, Nina Edith (1884–1945), croquet champion, was born in Ireland; nothing is known of her family background. Regarded by contemporaries as a beautiful young woman, she began playing croquet at an early age and discovered a natural affinity for the sport. In 1903 she left Ireland to attend the ladies’ open championship in England, which she won in a remarkable upset. She next won the mixed doubles championship (1905), partnering Cyril Corbally, one of the ‘Irish terrors’ who had made a huge impression on the sport. The same year she won the Irish gold medals for croquet and the gold caskets. On two occasions in 1904 she defeated in competition Lily Gower, considered the greatest croquet player (male or female) of the time. In 1905 she tied with Gower in seventh place in the champions’ cup (latterly the president's cup), which was open to men and women, and came ninth the following two years. In 1908 she repeated Gower's earlier success in winning the men's gold medal, and after this triumph the rules were changed to prevent women entering the competition. The ladies’ champion cup began in 1911, and in the inaugural year Gower (now married to R. C. J. Beaton) triumphed, with Coote third.
Coote's playing relied on dash and style, rather than accuracy. She played a fast-paced game, completing her games in record times, with a golf-style side-swing. Her form, although occasionally brilliant, was erratic, allowing the more consistent, if less elegant, Gower to dominate the competitions. Off court she had a lively personality, with a sharp tongue, and spared no one with her caustic barbs and comments.
After the first world war her playing ability faded and she retired from active participation, becoming a successful manager of croquet teams. Her dominant personality was again to the fore, and she managed with a firm and dictatorial style. In 1936, after a failed love affair, she became gradually withdrawn and reclusive. She turned to spiritualism and became convinced she would die in her sixty-first year. Increasingly eccentric, she helped make the prophecy come true by deliberately delaying a minor operation that would not otherwise have been dangerous. She died 6 January 1945 in Roehampton from complications resulting from the operation.