BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic — Jamaican winger Donna-Kay ‘DK’ Henry says she is enjoying life playing professional football in Iceland.

Having spent many years living in New York after transplanting from Jamaica as an eight-year-old, the 24-year-old says the move to the European nation earlier this year was a seamless adjustment.

“I play for UMF Selfoss and we play in the Pepsi League, which is the First Division in Iceland, and I am in my first year. I am enjoying playing there,” Henry shared with the Jamaica Observer at the Be Live Experience Hamaca hotel here yesterday.

“It was not a big adjustment for me as I used to live in New York City, so I am kind of used to the cold… I went to Iceland in March and it was cold, but it was easy for me to adapt as I have played in the cold before,” she added.

Henry, who is a member of Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz outfit participating in a CFU Rio Olympics qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic, noted that the brand of football played by her club UMF Selfoss suits her.

“We play different types of football, depending on the team we are playing against. So we would employ what suits us best with formation and the personalities we have on the team.

“For the most part, we try to possess and break teams down, then build attack; not just long balls as that is not our thing,” Henry said.

But Henry, who has some 10 international caps under her belt, with a claimed “nine goals” to her credit, was a standout player for Jamaica in their opening game here against the hosts, who they blew away 6-0, even as the Jamaicans were thought to have played notches below their best.

As she does for her club in Europe day in North Atlantic and day out, the diminutive attack-minded player served up a generous helping of her talent against the Dominican Republic, effortlessly going by defenders with a lethal mix of skill and pace.

“Typically that’s my game, and I like to think I have good skills, especially one-on-one, and I like to get behind the defence, cutting into the spaces, but yesterday (Sunday) was not one of my best games,” Henry said with a hint of modesty.

She admitted that she was affected by the heat on Sunday, having just returned from the temperate conditions that obtain in Iceland.

“I was affected by the climate change, having just come from Iceland after being there for six months and now I am here where the climate is just completely different, and it was hard to adjust.

“I was hoping to score one or two goals, but I wasn’t able to do that as the change of climate impacted me more than I expected,” Henry lamented.

The graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hopes that she will have a key role to help the team in its pursuit of creating history and qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games set for Brazil, where many of her football idols are from.

“My goal is just to play my best in each game and be the player I know I can be and to help inspire the younger girls, and although I haven’t been with this team long, I think I have had a big impact on it, so I just want to do what I need to do to help us advance.

“I know the road is going to be tough, but nothing comes easy,” she noted.

Having joined this “fairly new bunch” of players here just two days ahead of the first game, Henry shared that she is satisfied that talent and potential flourish in the present crop of players.

“I think that I have seen a lot of talent, and I am actually very excited to see what’s next and how we continue to build as a team… we have very good personnel, but obviously we have a lot to work on as a team so we can compete against high-quality teams, but it’s looking good and we just have to play more so we can mesh,” Henry said.

Originally from the Kingston 11 community of Cockburn Pen, the former New York Flash player said her inspiration in the game comes from iconic figures past and present and across sexes.

“I love Ronaldinho because of his skill and creativity, and I also love Ronaldo, the one from Brazil. In the new era, Christiano Ronaldo for sure, and of course (Lionel) Messi for his ability to dribble and to be effective against every team, no matter how many people they put on him.

“I love Martha for her skill, and my game will more likely be similar to how she plays –very fast, very skilful, and even though she is small, she is very strong,” Henry ended.