Lowlife troll attacks Southside Flyers WNBL star Bec Cole following the death of her grandfather

As a super-fit and popular woman in the sport, Aussie basketball star Bec Cole has more than her fair share of the dark side of social media.

But when a cowardly troll attacked her right after the death of her beloved grandfather, they went too far.

Cole, who plays for the Southside Flyers in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), is known for her dedication to fitness and often shares photos and videos of her workouts on social media.

She has also used her platform to raise awareness for causes such as Lymphoma Australia, after her father Gary – a former Socceroo – was diagnosed with on-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2019.

However, Cole has also been the target of online abuse, including comments about her appearance and the disgusting post referring to her grandfather’s recent passing.

Coie had posted a touching tribute to her late grandfather, including a recent photo of them together.

“I hate that I didn’t say a proper goodbye, but this picture was the last time I saw you until a few weeks ago. I saw your smiling face and was able to give you the biggest hugs and kisses,” she posted.

“Thank you Poppa for loving us, giving us the best childhood memories, always supporting our efforts and always making us laugh.”

But while most messages contain condolences and words of support, a disgusting troll sent a mean reply.

“That’s why you didn’t say goodbye to him,” it read, accusing the WNBL star of putting her body and sports career before her family.

“I saw this after the game and I was in the ice pool and I just took off,” Cole told the Announce sun.

“They got my family involved. I was so angry.’

Cole has earned a legion of social media followers, but bitter trolls keep sending her ugly messages, including those about her grandfather

Cole is a fitness advocate and regularly shares her workout routines. She’s also not afraid to show some skin to show off the rewards for her hard work

Despite being called “s**t,” Cole usually tries to laugh off comments like this.

However, some comments hit her harder than others. One man told her she looked “unhealthy,” while another said the majority of people were “exhausted” from seeing women in bikinis on social media.

While Cole has not responded to these messages, she sympathizes with other athletes who may not be able to block out the negativity.

“I don’t know these people, so I won’t speak back,” Cole said.

“I’ll laugh about it and I’m glad I’m like this and don’t take most of it to heart.

“Ultimately, you don’t know me, you don’t know how hard I work and I guess that’s your opinion if you think I don’t look healthy, but I know I am healthy.”

As for her own brand, Cole is coming off a stellar WNBL campaign that saw her team ultimately fall short in the Grand Finals series, but she was a powerhouse with 25 and 27 points in the two championship games against Townsville.

Southside Flyers star Cole (right) fumbles for the ball with Townsville Fire’s Sophie Reid during the recent WNBL grand finals series

She hopes to leverage that off-season success to further raise her profile and forge more commercial partnerships.

“I’m an athlete first and foremost, I’m not a social media person, but I have my niche and I’ve had to figure out what’s worth what, how much companies pay for posts, stories, shout outs, and partnerships,” she said.

“If I’m really passionate about something, I’ll email the company and the worst that can happen is they don’t answer or say no.

‘It is often brands that contact me. You don’t do everything because I also think your followers know when things get a little unfair.

“The world on Instagram is sometimes a little too perfect, not reality, and I don’t want to go down that road.”

She is already planning for life after basketball, with several media appearances in basketball and she also dreams of taking part in a body contest.