She took a break, but discovered she couldn't stay away for long.

Kim White has rejoined the high school coaching ranks this fall, taking over the reins of the Lincoln School field hockey team.

"It seems like a great group of girls, and I'm very happy to have gotten the opportunity," said White, who replaces Rebecca Campbell following the former Lynxes coach's request for a leave of absence.

White boasts an extensive field hockey résumé that began in her hometown of Burrillville.

A member of the Broncos' Athletic Hall of Fame, the former Kim Zifcak was a three-sport star in high school, playing field hockey, softball and basketball in the mid-1980s.

After helping Burrillville's field hockey team capture four-straight Division I Championships and being named to the U.S. Field Hockey Association's High School All-America team, White went on to play at the University of New Hampshire. She was a member of the 1986 Wildcats field hockey team that advanced to the NCAA Field Hockey Final Four. That same year, she was selected to compete at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

White then returned to her alma mater in 1992 and coached Burrillville's field hockey team for 13 years. But after guiding the Broncos' to the Division II finals in 2004, she decided that it had become too difficult trying to juggle work, family and coaching.

"I love the game and I loved coaching at Burrillville," said White, who teaches seventh-grade social studies at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence and lives with her husband and 12-year-old daughter in Cranston. "But at the time, it was a little too much."

White remained involved in the game, however, through officiating, which she was better able to fit into her schedule, and by helping Campbell and Leslie Caito-Jones with their Lead The Way field hockey program.

Then the coaching position at Lincoln School became available this year, and White decided that the timing — and the more manageable commute to Providence's East Side — was right.

"The opportunity came and it works and I was thrilled to get back into coaching," she said.

Lincoln School has struggled to put wins on the board in recent years, finishing below .500 each of the last five seasons. The Lynxes tied with Cumberland at 5-10-1 last fall and did not make the playoffs after losing a play-in game for the final spot to the Clippers.

White is looking forward to the challenge of rebuilding the squad.

"All I know is that when I was a player at Burrillville, Lincoln School was always one of our rivals," she said. "They had a very strong program under Robin Kirkwood Auld and Ellen Elcock and Ronnie McFarland, who is now the athletic director and has been very supportive. So they have had a great tradition of field hockey, so I look forward to trying to get that back."

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Opening day of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League field hockey season on Tuesday will feature some exciting Division I matchups with Moses Brown hosting Cumberland at 3:45 p.m. It will be the three-time Division II champion Quakers' first game in the higher division.

Lincoln School will host defending Division I champion North Kingstown in a 4 p.m. contest at Faxon Farm Field in Rehoboth.

Lincoln will head over to Bay View at 3:45 p.m. for a rematch between the 2008 semifinalists.

Meanwhile, Barrington will host East Greenwich, also at 3:45.

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Division II play gets under way on Wednesday with six games slated. Among them, Wheeler, which fell to Moses Brown in the title game each of the last three years, will play Classical on the Purple's new turf field at the Al Morro Athletic Complex in a 5:30 p.m. matchup.

Reigning Division II-South champion Toll Gate will open its title defense against Chariho, traveling to Wood River Junction for a 3:45 p.m. contest.

Smithfield will host 2008 II-North runner-up Burrillville, also at 3:45.

Woonsocket and Cranston East will face off at Cranston Stadium at 4 o'clock.

South Kingstown, which dropped down to Division II after winning one game in three years in Division I, will head over to East Greenwich to play Rocky Hill School at 4:15.

And Pilgrim — the runner-up to Toll Gate in II-South last year — will host Warwick Vets at 7.

cthorn@projo.com