Leva Tare is the longest serving member of the national team, having made her first appearance 15 years ago but may be the youngest at heart. Tare can be a good shooter and play tough defence against the opponents' leaders. During the last three seasons Tare has been a secret weapon for national team coach Zvirgzdins who was Ieva's first coach in Jurmala sport school about 25 years ago. She often is a "sixth player" who usually engages from the bench and can turn around the story of the game. In summer 2008 Tare recovered very quickly from serious elbow injury, joined the national team in Beijing and at the end of year received a special award for fighting spirit from the Latvian Olympic Committee.
