Gardendale High has opened up a new chapter in its sports history — bowling.

The Rockets’ boys and girls bowling teams competed in their first ever varsity bowling match against Shades Valley on Tuesday at Super Bowl, with the Gardendale boys winning 6-1 over the Mounties and the Rocket girls losing by the same score.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association made the sport a part of its championship program this year; teams held what amounts to a practice season last year. So far, Gardendale and Pinson Valley are the only local schools to put teams on the lanes in this inaugural season.

In high school bowling, teams have five bowlers one the lanes at any given time. In a dual match, the teams face each other in three Baker-format games, where each player bowls two frames — one bowls the first and sixth frames, the next bowls the second and seventh, and so on. The teams then bowl a traditional team game, where all five members bowl a full 10 frames each, in much the same way that league bowling has been run for decades.

Coaches, such as Gardendale’s Barry Brake, can make substitutions between games as well.

In Tuesday’s match, David Hopkins led the Gardendale boys with a high game of 173, while Reece Howell led the girls with a 130 high game.

The Rocket boys knocked down a total of 1038 pins in the match compared to 966 for Shades Valley, while the girls’ pinfall was 799 against the Mounties’ 852.