Shawn Lipman (born 25 September 1964) is an American South African-born

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He was inducted into the US Rugby Hall of Fame in 2019, together with US Internationals

Luke Gross Luke Gross (born November 21, 1959) is an American former rugby union player and current rugby coach and administrator. A lock who played for various club sides, he earned 62 caps for the United States between 1996 and 2003. Gross was the all-tim ...

and

Vaea Anitoni Vaea Naufahu Anitoni (born 20 September 1970) is an American former rugby union player who played wing. Anitoni is the all-time leading try scorer for the U.S. national team. Anitoni played for the United States national team from 1992 to 200 ...

. Lipman was also inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

in 2004, with others such as

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; né Braun; born December 30, 1935), nicknamed "the Left Arm of God", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 195 ...

Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the Lists of Olympic medalists#Medalist with most medals by Olympiad, most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympi ...

, and

Shawn Green Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played for multiple teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). Green was a first-round draft pick and a two-time major league All-Star. He drov ...

. Lipman has been inducted into four other sporting Halls of Fame; the USA Maccabiah Rugby Hall of Fame, Santa Monica Rugby Club Hall of Fame,

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jews, American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distingui ...

and Legends of the Maccabiah.

United States

Born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa, Lipman was capped nine times for the in tests, including three

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

games. Including non-test games, he has played in over 20 international matches. Lipman joined

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

Rugby Club at Under-20 level in 1983, from Sandringham High School, where he was a first team player, having received full colours in rugby. He represented Transvaal Under-20s whilst playing at Wits and also South Africa in the

1985 Maccabiah Games The 12th Maccabiah Games brought over 4,000 athletes to Israel from 38 nations to compete in 28 sports. History The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932. In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and super ...

. He represented the United States in the

. Lipman also represented the US national team in over 20 international matches, including 9 test matches. Lipman played against some of the best national teams and players in the world, including the

New Zealand All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, England, and France. Lipman had a very successful run in the Maccabiah Games, held every four years, having captained the US team in the

1993 Maccabiah Games The 14th Maccabiah Games brought 5,100 athletes to Israel from 48 nations. Jewish athletes from Poland, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia participated for the first time after World War II, after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Athletes from eight Repu ...

and the

1997 Maccabiah Games The 15th Maccabiah Games are primarily remembered for being marred by a Maccabiah bridge collapse, bridge collapse that killed several participants. The Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 33 countries competing in 36 sports. New sports fo ...

, and represented the US in the

1989 Maccabiah Games The 13th Maccabiah Games brought 4,500 athletes to Israel from 45 nations. Jewish athletes from Hungary participated for the first time since World War II, Jewish athletes from Russia had been permitted, by their country, to play for the first tim ...

and South Africa in the

. He was selected as MVP of the Maccabiah Games Rugby Event in 1989, 1993, and 1997. In the Maccabiah competition, he won gold in 1985; bronze in 1989; silver in 1993; and gold in 1997. He was elected as the flag bearer for the United States delegation in 1997. Lipman toured South Africa in 1988 with the Pacific Coast Grizzlies, playing against the top provincial teams in South Africa, including Western Province, South African Defence, Eastern Transvaal, and with victories against Natal, Orange Free State, and Boland. Lipman was inducted into the USA's

in 2004 along with some of the best professional athletes in the United States, including

. He earned the MVP of the Year Award at the

Santa Monica Rugby Club Santa Monica Rugby Club is a rugby union club from Santa Monica, California, United States. The club teams, known as the Dolphins, compete in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) a territorial union of USARugby, currently fielding ...

eight times, and in 2006 was also inducted into that club's Hall of Fame. In 2009 Lipman came out of retirement at the age of 44 to represent the United States at the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games (), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Poli ...

, winning a bronze medal. This culminated a 24-year career of playing at the Maccabiah Games, winning 2 Gold Medals, 1 Silver, and 2 Bronze Medals as a player. In June 2011 he was inducted into his third sports hall of fame. Along with

Taylor Mays Taylor Mays (born February 7, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He won Washington state titles in track in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash as a high scho ...

of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

and

Doug Gottlieb Douglas Mitchell Gottlieb (born January 15, 1976) is an American basketball analyst, sports talk radio host and college basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Gottlieb played NCAA c ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, Lipman was inducted into the

. In 2013 he was head coach of the USA Maccabi Rugby Team that competed at the 19th World Games. The team won the gold medal in sevens, and the bronze medal in fifteens. In 2017, Lipman led the US team to the 20th

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games (), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games (), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world ...

as head coach, and together with US international star

Zack Test Zachary "Zack" Test (born October 13, 1989) is an American retired rugby union player who played for the United States national rugby sevens team. With 143 career tries in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Test led all U.S. players in tries scored u ...

and with the team captained by US Eagle Kevin Swiryn, the team won the gold medal in fifteens, beating the favored South African side 31–21. Lipman is the only player to ever win a gold medal for rugby at the Maccabiah Games both as a player and coach. Lipman was inducted into the Maccabi USA Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018, and the US Rugby Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2021 he was named to the All American List of best US Rugby Players. In 2022 he was named as a Legend of the Maccabiah, the highest honor bestowed by USA Maccabi, along with other former and current professional athletes

Chelsey Goldberg Chelsey Goldberg (born January 30, 1993) is an American ice hockey player who currently plays for Team Adidas in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). Previously, Goldberg had signed with the Boston Blades, in the Canadian ...

Benny Feilhaber Benny Feilhaber (; born January 19, 1985) is an American soccer coach for the Oakland Roots and a former professional player. A midfielder, Feilhaber played for clubs in Germany, Denmark, England, and the United States. Born in Brazil but raise ...

, and Olympic swimmer Andi Murez.

Maccabiah Games

* Captained the US Maccabiah Team at the 1997 and 1993 Maccabiah World Games, winning Gold 1997, Silver 1993. * Represented the US Maccabiah Team at the 1989 Maccabiah World Games, winning Bronze and South Africa in 1985, winning Gold * Selected Most Valuable Player of the Games in 1989, 1993, and 1997 * Flag Bearer for the United States delegation at the 1997 Maccabiah World Games * Represented US Maccabiah Team at the 2009 Maccabiah World Games, winning Bronze * Selected as head coach of the US Maccabiah Rugby Team for the 2013 World Games * Coached the US team to a Gold Medal in Rugby Sevens in 2013 * Coached the US team to a Bronze Medal in Rugby Fifteens in 2013 * Most medals won by an open athlete in team sports ever at the World Maccabiah Games * Coached Team USA to win the gold medal at the

. * Only person to win a Gold Medal as a player and coach in Rugby at the World Maccabiah Games

Honors and biography

* Named as one of Best 50 US internationals by a national sports publication * Inducted into the

in 2004, with others such as

, and

. * Represented

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

Under-20 provincial representative side in South Africa * Selected as MVP of the

in seven seasons * Represented US representative side at the

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melros ...

* Represented the US against international sides, including ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** On 26 June 2011, he was inducted into the

. *Full Colors – Sandringham High School (1982) *Rugby Scholarship –

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

(1983 to 1985) *Most Improved Player – University of Witwatersrand (1983) *University Half Blues – University of Witwatersrand (1984) *Gold Medal – World Maccabiah Games (1985) *Most Valuable Forward – Santa Monica Rugby Club (1988) *Craig Sweeney Award (MVP) – Santa Monica Rugby Club (1989) *Most Valuable Player – World Maccabiah Games (1989) *Bronze Medal – World Maccabiah Games (1989) *Most Valuable Forward – Tucson International Tournament (1990) *Most Valuable Forward – Santa Monica Rugby Club (1991) *Craig Sweeney Award (MVP) – Santa Monica Rugby Club (1991) *Craig Sweeney Award (MVP) – Santa Monica Rugby Club (1992) *Craig Sweeney Award (MVP) – Santa Monica Rugby Club (1993) *Most Valuable Player – World Maccabiah Games (1993) *Silver Medal – World Maccabiah Games (1993) *Most Valuable Forward – Santa Monica Rugby Club (1995) *Flag Bearer for the United States delegation - Maccabiah World Games (1997) *Most Valuable Player – World Maccabiah Games (1997) *Gold Medal – World Maccabiah Games (1997) *Hall of Fame Inductee –

(2004) *Hall of Fame Inductee – Santa Monica Rugby Club (2006) *Most Valuable Player – Huntington Beach Sevens Open Tournament (2006) *Bronze Medal – World Maccabiah Games (2009) *Hall of Fame Inductee- Southern Calif. Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (2011) *Gold Medal – World Maccabiah Games Rugby Sevens (2013) *Bronze Medal – World Maccabiah Games Rugby (2013) *Gold Medal – World Maccabiah Games Rugby (2017) *Hall of Fame Inductee – Maccabi USA Rugby Hall of Fame (2018) *Hall of Fame Inductee – US Rugby Hall of Fame (2019) *All American List – Named to the All American List of best US Rugby Players (2021) *Legend of the Maccabiah – highest honor bestowed by USA Maccabi (2022)

Youth Rugby

Lipman founded the West Valley Wolverines Youth Rugby Club in 2003, and was the head coach and president until 2010. The club started with his two sons and 8 other children and grew to over 80 players. The club focused on fun and development in introducing rugby to children aged between 5 and 12 in the West San Fernando Valley.

Professional career

Lipman is also an entrepreneur who has started and sold companies in the healthcare, real estate, entertainment, technology, and eCommerce spaces. He co-founded and served as CEO of a global product feed technology company, Feedonomics. In 2023 Shawn won a Stevie Award in the 21st Annual American Business Awards (ABA) for "Technology Executive of the Year!" The ABA received more than 3,700 nominations for this category, and he was one of six selected by a panel of judges for this prestigious honor based on factors like his success in building a winning company culture, industry-leading retention rates, exceptional leadership, commitment to innovation, and global satisfaction scores.

References