ASPA Member Spotlight – Dr Erica Randle
Name: Dr Erica Randle (she/her)
Email: e.randle@latrobe.edu.au
Twitter: @ejrandle
LinkedIn: Erica Randle
Areas of Interest: youth engagement, sport as health promotion,
University: Centre for Sport and Social Impact, La Trobe University
Project/Media/Research links you’d like to share (we would like to share your recent work to amplify your efforts!):
Social Return on Investment of the Life Saving Victoria Multicultural Program
The VicHealth Gender Equity in Sport Leadership Pledge Report
Doing Sport Differently for Boards
The Sport Experience (podcast)
Are you looking to collaborate?
Yes, I am open to collaborating with all:
✅ Practitioners (e.g. exercise physiologists, town planners etc)
✅ Policy (e.g. particular state/federal department)
✅ Research (e.g. built environment, active travel)
✅ Mentor(s)/mentee(s)
My role is based in collaboration, policy, and practice. I am always open to discussing how to support sport, government, and community to engage the least engaged in our community and learning from others about what they do and what they see.
My favourite way to be active on the weekend:
I live in a beautiful area on the Mornington Peninsula and enjoy walking with my dad and my dog.
How I became involved in PA:
I have a bit of a varied background that includes working in CD stores, a bank, and in Grand Canyon National Park. I found research at a bit of a late stage of life and don’t have a sport background, but I like working with great people and found that at the Centre for Sport and Social Impact. Our interest in physical activity comes from a health promotion perspective, how sport can be used to engage people in healthy behaviours.
This is what I do…
I collaborate with government, sport, recreation, and play organisations to develop programs and interventions so that people have the access and support they need to be active and healthy.
Projects at the moment include:
1. Collaborating with Play Australia on the 1000 Play Streets project, a movement aiming to activate quiet residential streets into places for play. This has involved developing a Toolkit for Local Government Authorities to support communities to run Play Streets and the evaluation and research of Play Streets delivered across the country with funding and support from Sport Australia and the South Australian government.
2. Working with Special Olympics Australia on the Inclusive Sport in Schools program, delivering sport and physical activities to children with disability in the school setting. This has included evaluating the program, gathering feedback to improve program design and implementation, as well as workforce development.
3. Telling the stories of community sport clubs in Victoria who have received VicHealth funding to increase participation. These stories will hopefully inspire other clubs by providing them ideas on how to improve engagement through innovative ideas.
4. Supporting Netball ACT to develop a three-year Participation Strategy, based on an intense period of evidence gathering from the netball community in Canberra.
5. Collaborating with Vicsport to deliver regular Connect and Support sessions for the Victorian sport sector to… connect and support each other through knowledge sharing and networking.
6. Engaging Men as Allies to Change Our Game around gender equity in sport in regional Victoria – funded by Change Our Game and being delivered in collaboration with GippSport and Sports Community.
7. Supporting Regional Sport Assemblies to articulate the value of the VicHealth Regional Sport Program
