About Optimum Sports Academy
WHY WE BUILT THIS
When Craig Johnson and Alex Kim founded Optimum in 2019, they weren't trying to add another rink program to Southern California. They were trying to fix something.
Between them, Craig and Alex had spent a combined three decades in the professional game — Craig as a 10-year NHL veteran, U.S. Olympian, and most recently an Assistant Coach with the Anaheim Ducks; Alex as a pro player across the ECHL, AHL, and Europe, and now Director of Player Personnel for the Jr. Ducks. They had seen what elite development looked like at the highest levels. And they had watched, year after year, talented young players in their own community come up short — not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked access.
The development environment they needed didn't exist on the West Coast. So Craig and Alex built it.
