Bocce ball athlete rolls his way to victory in Special Olympics

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- About 7,000 athletes from around the world compete in Los Angeles this week in the 2015 Special Olympics World Games. Among the 25 different sports is bocce ball.

The Italian game of bocce ball is the third most participated sport in the world, topped only by soccer and golf. The goal is to roll your bocce balls closest to the white target ball, called the pallino.

On Tuesday, a portion of the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles was transformed into a massive bocce ball court.

On court 10 was the first round of the singles competition with USA taking on Honduras. Representing Team USA is 33-year-old James Volpert from Nebraska.

"Bocce is wonderful," Volpert said.

Volpert rolled his way to victory, finishing with the most points at the end of 30 minutes of play.

"It's his first time he's done bocce by himself in the World Games," his father Joe Volpert said

"You can see the excitement on his face when he looks up and he's got a great big smile," Joe Volpert added.

The World Games run through August 2. All the sporting events are free and open to the public. To cheer these athletes, view the schedule here: www.la2015.org/schedule.