Netball star fights 'fat' Facebook insult

Cathrine Latu put her critic in his place before the Mystics' semifinal win over the Magic. Photo / Getty Images

Northern Mystics star Cathrine Latu has hit back at an unsuspecting netball fan who posted disparaging remarks about the shooter's weight on Facebook.

Sick of seeing her weight attacked on social networking sites and forums, Latu decided to put the one critic in his place, calling him out on his comments.

The official ANZ Championship Facebook page invited fans to comment on who they thought would win Sunday night's preliminary final clash between the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic and the Mystics.

It was an innocent attempt to create light-hearted banter between the supporters of the respective teams in the lead-up to the big game.

But the discussion got rather heated when one poster, Nathan James, declared the Magic were going to win because "there [sic] 2 athletic, mystics shooter is far 2 overweight".

That sparked a wave of outraged posts from fans defending Latu, who is the most accurate shooter in the transtasman league this year.

But it was Latu herself who put an end to the conversation.

"Oh sorry, is there a weight restriction to play netball!!??" Latu posted, just three hours before the start of Sunday's match.

"I hope people that are 'different' read this, and if u are, don't let idiots like him tell u ur too fat, or too short, or too slow! those losers go nowhere while we fight our way to the ... top! So thanks for being narrow-minded!

"Now I must take my fat butt to a semi final!!!"

The Mystics went on to win the preliminary final over the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic by one goal to book their place in the ANZ Championship grand final.

Latu said she felt compelled to join in the discussion because she is sick of being judged for her size and not her ability. "I tried to be as nice as possible, those weren't my first words," the 24-year-old joked.

Latu said the comments struck a nerve not because she is sensitive about her size, but because she believes attacking athletes over their weight sends the wrong image to youngsters looking to get involved in sport.

"I fully understand that everyone has their opinion and not everyone is going to like it," she said.

"It's not the first time I've read things like that and if I actually cared about what people like him say about me then I probably wouldn't be where I am today.

"But it really makes me mad that people like him could possibly get into other people's heads and make them feel like they're not worth anything.

"[Temepara George] got told she was too short to play netball when she was younger, and other people get told all the time they are too old. I'm trying to make a difference and I hope I can make people realise no matter what size or shape you are you can play sport."

Mystics chief executive Mark Cameron said he had no problem with Latu posting her views on social networking sites and said the popular shooter has a great rapport with fans.

"We appreciate our players interacting with our fans, we think that's really important. And Cathrine Latu is a great example of how that can be successful."