[BOOK REVIEW] Changing Cadence: Friendship, Football, and the Art of Transition

Final Football Season Sparks Unexpected Journey of Reinvention in Powerful True Story, Changing Cadence
WESTPORT, Conn., June 2, 2026 — Changing Cadence: Friendship, Football, and the Art of Transition by Andra Douglas is a powerful true story that answers life’s toughest question: How do we reinvent ourselves when everything changes? With heart, humor and striking originality, Douglas bridges two unlikely worlds — New York City athletes and small-town Florida seniors — revealing a moving, intergenerational journey about resilience, purpose and the courage to begin again.

At the center of the story is Christine, a driven, middle-aged athlete and entertainment industry executive living in New York City. For two decades, she has been the face — and force — behind the New York Sharks, the most storied franchise in the little-known world of women’s tackle football. As both quarterback and team owner, Christine has built a legacy defined by grit, leadership and passion.

But time has caught up.

Christine faces a defining crossroads; she has reluctantly aged out of her role on the field. With a sale of the team already in motion, she negotiates one final season — one last chance to hold onto the identity that has shaped her life before passing the torch to new ownership.

While Christine grapples with change in the fast-paced world of New York sports, a parallel story unfolds hundreds of miles away in rural central Florida.

Her mother, Dorothy — matriarch of a ranching family — begins a profound transition of her own. Leaving behind her lifelong home on “The Hill,” Dorothy moves into The Commons, an assisted living community in the small town of Zephyrhills. Within this tight-knit, deeply rooted community, residents who have known each other for decades find themselves reliving old dynamics, rediscovering friendships and confronting the realities of aging together.

When news spreads that Christine is selling the beloved Sharks and embarking on a final season, the residents of The Commons become unlikely fans. Through FaceTime calls and streaming games in the community’s movie room, the group — part curious, part invested — begins following the team’s journey with surprising enthusiasm.

An unexpected and deeply moving connection forms between two seemingly opposite worlds: young, high-energy female athletes in New York City and a group of outspoken, often opinionated octogenarians in small-town Florida.
Changing Cadence brings these worlds together in a story that is as poignant as it is entertaining — a collision of “Old Florida” and the modern urban experience that reveals shared struggles beneath the surface differences. It speaks to anyone who has questioned their place in the world, confronted the realities of age or reinvention, or searched for meaning in times of uncertainty.

Changing Cadence: Friendship, Football, and the Art of Transition