Is it better to level the playing field or push for excellence? Do we serve the collective best by creating a space for all or by rewarding individual merit?

In our short documentary “Life is a Matter of Choices” we explore these questions by taking a look at the 35-year career of Coach Tom Moore who shaped the lives of men at Southwest Miami Senior High School.

Coach Moore, who himself graduated from Southwest (’75), spent his entire career at the school. Though his record on the court left a bit to be desired, he ended his career with more losses than wins, the vast majority of his players went on to incredible levels of personal and professional success, because as he put it “I never went in to win titles, but to teach, and that is what I did.” Which isn’t to say he did not have success on the court, in fact his biggest claim to fame was coaching the only team, state wide, to best Miami High’s ’96 team.

The film will speak with former colleagues and players for whom Coach Moore was a transformative figure. Though all have glowing things to say about him and the program it becomes very clear that it certainly wasn’t all fun and games. His no nonsense coaching style included locking the gym doors once practice had started, making no exceptions for those not meeting their academic requirements and intense conditioning routines in the unforgiving Miami summers. With decades of introspection they all reflect on how the hardest parts of being on a Coach Moore team are the memories they return to as the most formative. This mentor and father figure lead them all to make the positive choices that shaped their lives.

The film is being helmed by two more Southwest alumni; Tito Gil (’97) himself a product of Coach Moore’s basketball program and Jennifer Orta Castellanos (’04) a filmmaker of over 15 years who founded Miami Film Lab.

Life is a Matter of Choices - the Story of Coach Tom Moore

By Miami Film Lab Inc

Life is a Matter of Choices - the Story of Coach Tom Moore