PENDLETON — For the past three years, some South Madison County youngsters have been learning a new sport, one that may be under the radar for most local fans of athletics.

The sports-minded should take notice, however, as in that short period of time, the athletes of a local club have developed enough to win a state championship.

The Pendleton Rugby Coed team recently won the fifth-sixth grade division by beating Southeastern 54-12 to claim the Rugby Indiana state championship Saturday, June 3.

The win in the title match came on the heels of a 43-12 win against Westfield in the semifinals and a 51-22 victory against Broad Ripple in the quarterfinals.

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The team, comprised of players from South Madison, Shenandoah, and Frankton-Lapel schools, is coached by Pendleton Heights alum Curt Trout, who said the children played very well in running up an average victory margin of 49-15.

“We ended up with a group that was a little more physically dominant, and some of the rugby they were doing was really good,” Trout said. “That was a powerful combination. We had some kids who picked the game up really fast and were aggressive on defense. A lot of our scores happened because our defense was so good.”

Rugby is a physical sport, and the children in the club learn by playing flag rugby when they are in second, third and fourth grades.

Rugby is gaining in popularity, which Trout attributes to not only its physical nature but also to its similarities to many other sports children already play.

“The allure of football is the physicality — kids love to tackle,” he said. “So, you get that. You get the fast breaks, the two-on-ones and three-on-twos, like you get in basketball, and then you have to work on spacing like you do in soccer. You really have a true hybrid of a sport.”

Trout, who played rugby at the club level in high school and while a student at Indiana University, said the quality of play in Indiana is at a high level right now. There are powerhouse programs at Cathedral, Penn and Fishers, and Trout said that’s a product of quality coaching and teaching.

“All these teams that are really good in Indiana, I think it’s because the kids grew up playing soccer and basketball,” he said. “They’ve got those skills already. It’s being taught better than it ever has been. It’s still a physical sport, but we provide a safe environment for them to learn a great, player-centered sport. In Rugby, we teach them decision-making scenarios, and they call the plays.”

The team was excited about the win Saturday, but Trout said the players behaved respectfully and showed good sportsmanship.

“We were the smallest school in this championship,” he said. “We were playing against schools with 15,000 students in their districts. Here we are playing these big schools, and our kids didn’t bat an eye, which was the coolest part. They kind of went crazy after they won but handled it with class. It was a pretty neat moment.”