{{Short description|Australian football umpire}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Use Australian English|date=December 2017}} '''Adam Coote''' is an Australian rules football boundary umpire and sprinter. He has umpired 383 games, including 31 final matches and five grand finals (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2010R) since making his debut in the 2005 season. In 2006 he was awarded the Bill Sutton Medallion for the best first or second year AFL boundary umpire. He continued to build on that early success and was the All Australian boundary umpire in both the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He was also awarded the Murray Williams Shield in 2012 for his contribution to the AFLUA and umpiring. Coote has umpired the third highest number of AFL games for a boundary umpire.<ref name="afluastats1">{{cite web|url=http://www.aflua.com.au/umpire_statistics_2012 |title=Umpire Statistics 2012 |publisher=Australian Football League Umpires Association |access-date=25 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628063538/http://www.aflua.com.au/umpire_statistics_2012 |archive-date=28 June 2012 }}</ref><ref name="afluaprofile1">{{cite web|url=http://www.aflua.com.au/Boundary_umpires#coote|title=Boundary Umpire Profiles - Adam Coote|publisher=Australian Football League Umpires Association|access-date=25 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829164152/http://www.aflua.com.au/Boundary_umpires#coote|archive-date=29 August 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Coote is from Pomborneit, near Camperdown in south-western Victoria.<ref name="ref1">{{Cite news | last = Rooth | first = Meagan | title = Coote caps a stellar year: Another grand day for boundary umpire | work = Warrnambool Standard | date = 25 September 2010 | url = http://www.standard.net.au/news/local/sport/football-australian-rules/coote-caps-a-stellar-year-another-grand-day-for-boundary-umpire/1951637.aspx }}</ref>
Coote began umpiring with the Colac and District Football Umpires Association when he was 14. Australian Football League (AFL) umpires manager Jeff Gieschen has said that Coote is one of the most powerful boundary umpires in the AFL. Coote practised throw-ins with half a brick at his house to build his strength.<ref>{{cite news | first = Jared | last = Lynch | title = HARD CORE: Strong upper body places Coote in heat of battle | date = 25 September 2009 | url = http://www.standard.net.au/news/local/sport/football-australian-rules/hard-core-strong-upper-body-places-coote-in-heat-of-battle/1633681.aspx | work = The Warrnambool Standard | access-date = 3 October 2010}}</ref>
Coote completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise and Sport Science) at Deakin University in 2004.<ref name="deakin">{{cite web|url=http://www.deakin.edu.au/profiles/index.php?find=Adam%20Coote|title=Profiles - Mr Adam Coote|publisher=Deakin University|access-date=25 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323113509/http://www.deakin.edu.au/profiles/index.php?find=Adam%20Coote|archive-date=23 March 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Coote was named the Victorian Runners and Trainers association Athlete of the Year for the 2009/10 season.<ref name="ref1"/> This came after he won the 800-metre title at the Stawell Gift in 2010.<ref name="colac1">{{cite news|url=http://colacherald.com/2010/04/07/coote-storms-home-for-stawell-triumph/|title=Coote storms home for Stawell Triumph|date=7 April 2010|work=Colac Herald}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
For the 2011 Stawell Gift, Coote switched from middle distance to sprinting to contest the more prestigious 120-metre sprint. He made the semi-finals, but came third and did not qualify for the final. In 2012 he again competed in the sprint, and despite umpiring an AFL game in Brisbane on the Thursday before, Coote won his heat and semi final before finishing third in the final.<ref name="colac2">{{cite news|last=Fawkes|first=Aidan|title=District runner third in Stawell Gift|url=http://www.colacherald.com.au/2012/04/district-runner-third-in-stawell-gift/|access-date=20 April 2012|newspaper=Colac Herald|date=11 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="afl1">{{cite web|url=http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=132625 |title=Boundary umpire Adam Coote third in Stawell Gift |last=Collins |first=Ben |date=9 April 2012 |publisher=Australian Football League |access-date=25 July 2012 }}{{dead link|date=September 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Coote again competed in the Stawell Gift in 2013, running second in his heat and earning a semi-final berth. He felt "flattened" from umpiring the Carlton vs Richmond game on the preceding Thursday.<ref>{{cite news|last=McCullagh-Beasy|first=Justine|title=Camperdown export Coote chases Gift glory|url=http://www.standard.net.au/story/1399843/camperdown-export-coote-chases-gift-glory/?cs=74|access-date=1 April 2013|newspaper=Warrnambool Standard}}</ref> Coote was then scratched from the semi-final after tearing his hamstring in the warm up.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stawell Gift Semi-final Results 2013|url=http://www.stawellgift.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/R-Australia-Post-Stawell-Gift-%E2%80%93-120m-SEMI-FINALS.pdf}}</ref>
Coote returned to professional sprinting for the 2013/2014 season, recording a very narrow loss in the SAAL Bay Sheffield final on 28 December 2013 won by Queensland beach sprinter Ben Mispelhorn. Coote then ventured to Tasmania for the Burnie Gift on New Year's Day. He excelled in the wet and windy conditions, winning by 3 metres, the biggest winning margin in recent times, in a time of 12.78 seconds from his 9.50m handicap.
==References== {{reflist}}
http://www.news.com.au/sport/breaking-news/queensland-beach-runner-ben-mispelhorn-and-was-kiara-reddingius-are-bay-sheffield-winners/story-fnect155-1226791192389
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/2001071/afl-boundary-umpire-coote-wins-burnie-gift/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coote, Adam}} Category:Australian Football League umpires Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) {{Sports-official-bio-stub}}