Joshua Whippy (born October 30, 1990) is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays for the

Utah Warriors The Utah Warriors are a professional rugby union team that competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. The team is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR) and the United States men's national team. Whippy previously played for the

USA Selects The USA Falcons, formerly known as the USA Selects, is the second national rugby team for the United States, usually used for uncapped matches and domestic club sides. The primary national team is known as the USA Eagles or the United States natio ...

Early life

Josh Whippy was born on October 30, 1990 and grew up in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. Whippy moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

to attend

Rangitoto College Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in New Zealand (on ...

and Church College, where he played both

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and rugby. In 2010 he played for Utah's United Rugby Club, scoring a try in United's under-19 national championship victory. Whippy then attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU), where he began playing for the school's rugby team. After an injury ended his freshman season of rugby early, Whippy spent two years as a

Mormon missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

. Upon returning to BYU for his sophomore year, Whippy joined the university's football team. Whippy played as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

and wore number 36 for the Cougars. Whippy also continued to play rugby at BYU, winning multiple national championships. He was also named to the USA Men's Collegiate All-Americans (MCAAs) team in 2014 and 2015 and received an Honorable Mention selection for the MCAAs in 2017. Whippy has also played for the Utah Selects, winning two consecutive club 7s national championships in 2016 and 2017.

Club career

Prior to the start of its inaugural 2018 season, it was announced that Whippy would join the roster for the Utah Warriors of

. In the Warriors' final preseason exhibition against Alberta's

Prairie Wolf Pack The Prairie Wolf Pack is a Canadian rugby union team representing the Prairies region in the Canadian Rugby Championship. The Wolf Pack's inaugural season includes a home game at the Calgary Rugby Park against The Rock and away games at the BC ...

, Whippy suffered a

compound fracture A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a '' ...

of his lower left leg and missed the rest of the season.

International career

USA Selects

In September 2017, it was announced that Whippy had been selected for the USA Selects roster for the 2017 Americas Pacific Challenge. Daly made his debut with the USA Selects on October 11, 2017, starting at

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

and scoring a try, in the Selects' 49–36 victory over

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

USA Eagles

In October 2017, it was announced that Whippy had been selected for the USA Eagles roster for their end-of-year tests. However, Whippy did not make an appearance with the Eagles at that time. Whippy made his debut with the Eagles on February 10, 2018, appearing as a substitute, in the Eagles' 29–10 victory over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the

2018 Americas Rugby Championship The 2018 Americas Rugby Championship was the third series of the Americas Rugby Championship (sometimes informally called the "Americas' Six Nations", a reference to Europe's Six Nations Championship), which is the top elite tournament for the Am ...

(ARC). Whippy scored his first try for the Eagles on March 3, 2018, appearing as a substitute, in the Eagles' 61–19 victory over

in the ARC.

Personal life

Josh Whippy has a twin brother named

Jared Jared is a given name of Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the biblical patriarch Jared (יֶרֶד) was the sixth in the ten pre-flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Mahalaleel and the father of Enoch, ...

who also plays rugby. The two have played together for United Rugby Club, at BYU, with the Utah Selects, and for the Utah Warriors. Josh got married in December of 2016 and had a daughter in January of 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whippy, Josh 1990 births Living people United States international rugby union players Rugby union wings Utah Warriors players American rugby union players Fijian rugby union players