[1] He played football in high school as a halfback, helping Glebe to an undefeated record and interscholastic championship in 1939.

[4] After being denied entry to the Dominion Championships[a] due to his age, Fripp went to compete against Americans in the Eastern Olympic try-outs held at Lake Placid, New York.

He was champion of the Kandahar race in 1940, and won the Eastern Canadian Championships with first place in both slalom and downhill events.

He won the Canadian Open Class Downhill Championships in 1953, and was Canada's top entrant to the 1954 Ryan Cup.

[4] He was appointed by the Canadian Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) to be the coach of the men's team in 1958 to compete in Bad Gastein.

An article in The Montreal Gazette said, "Johnny Fripp, one of Canada's greatest skiers and last year's one man football team at Glebe Collegiate, was shoved into the battle as a momentary replacement for Andy Tommy in the second quarter.

[8] Controversy arose after the game, when Montreal Star writer Baz O'Meara claimed he was ineligible to play as an amateur due to his skiing career.

He returned to the team in 1947,[13] but left early in the season for the Ottawa Trojans of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU).

[14] He played one season with the Trojans as a halfback, appearing in seven games, before ending his professional football career.