Warrior. Siren. Archer. Woman. Knight.
Welcome to the official website of Virginia Hankins, the redheaded living legend famous for her extraordinary life and adventures as a modern day lady knight inspiring the spirit of imagination and adventure in all that she meets.
Virginia Hankins is descended from the ancient Celtic rulers, several European knights, an elusive American Civil War cavalry commander, and the legendary Lady Godiva herself. One of only a few handful of professional stunt women and female knights in the world, Virginia Hankins is proud to continue carrying the banner of women warriors in to the present day.
A passionate horseback rider who has been working with and training horses her entire life, her training and skills include both mounted and dismounted weapons, archery, crossbow, swords, quarterstaff, handguns, rifles, and many more.
Far from the typical Hollywood actress, Virginia Hankins carries an impressive dual major in engineering from the University of Southern California and has a hearty sense of civic duty.
Virginia actively volunteers in her community by serving on scholarship committees, volunteering on emergency service efforts, gathering donations for animal impacted by wildfires, speaking on ocean pollution prevention, and mentoring Women of Color in their development of vocational, resume, and career building skills.
As a Congressional Medal of Merit recipient, a third generation Girl Scout, and Girl Scout Gold Award Virginia Hankins has been featured in national women's spotlight programming, female entrepreneur news specials, and is devoted to helping youth of all backgrounds to achieve their dreams.
Some of Virginia Hankins' most well known performance appearances include portraying Joan of Arc on Spike TV's hit show Deadliest Warrior Season 3, being the first mermaid in the history of Château de Fontainebleau, a castle of the kings of France, representing L'Oreal La Mer's brand as their 50th Anniversary underwater actress, appearing at Paris Fashion Week, and being the first female knight in the 50 year history of the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire. She is also the author of the book Be a Real-Life Mermaid, available online.
Virginia Hankins is based near Los Angeles, California.
BUY HER BOOK ON AMAZON.COM AND BARNES AND NOBLE:
Archery Lessons
Gain the personal service and coaching that you need to become your best as you immerse yourself in the sport of archery! Lessons are coordinated through Archery and More, held in Simi Valley (Near the Moorpark and Thousand Oaks border of Ventura County, California) and include all equipment that you need to get started right during your lesson (or you can bring your own).
Beginning archery lesson students that do not own their own equipment are started on the recurve bow style. Compound bow lessons are available upon request for intermediate-level archers and are subject to compound bow equipment availability.
If you have a charter school, home school, or other archery student that wishes to train before 5PM on a week day please email us for scheduling assistance.
Please note - USA Archery Recreational Level Membership (only $15 / year) is required for all students after the first intro lesson for insurance reasons. Students must be aligned with “Sheroes Entertainment” as their club. To register with USA Archery for your Recreational Level (or above) membership please CLICK HERE.
Merida from Pixar in Real Life on Disney Plus
When Are Archery Lessons Offered?
Archery lessons are subject to availability and are booked through Archery and More.
Lessons with Coach Virginia:
Weekdays before 5PM
Same week scheduled weekend openings are sometimes available, subject to same-week availability
How Much Do Archery Lessons Cost?
Intro / No Prior Experience, 60-Minute Lesson: $100
Choose this option for your first lesson if you do NOT already know how to fully set up your own bow from its parts AND have never taken a lesson with Virginia before.
Up to 4 people can shoot under the same, flat-rate lesson price in Simi Valley. Bring your friends!
Additional people are $20 / person (limit 8 total) in Simi Valley.
Ages 3+ are allowed, kids require parental supervision.
Mid-day / Weekday 30-Minute Lesson: $60
Choose this option for your first lesson if you DO already know how to select, set up, and test archery equipment by yourself OR if you are a returning student of Virginia’s.
Up to 4 people can shoot under the same, flat-rate lesson price in Simi Valley. Bring your friends!
Additional people are $20 / person (limit 8 total) in Simi Valley.
Ages 3+ are allowed, kids require parental supervision.
Delivered, 40-Minute Lesson, within 20 driving miles of Simi Valley: $285+.
Up to 8 people can shoot under the same, flat-rate, lesson price.
NOT AVAILABLE FOR PARTIES; e.g. if you’re throwing a birthday then you cannot book this for it.
Additional locations up to 40 miles from Simi Valley, CA are sometimes available with additional payment for travel time and mileage.
Ages 3+ are allowed, kids require parental supervision.
Where are Archery Lessons Offered?
Simi Valley, California at a private range location through Archery and More. The address is provided upon booking.
See Virginia Teach
How Do I Start Learning?
Schedule an Intro to Archery Lesson!
An Introduction to Archery lesson is focused on gear selection, safety overview, equipment set up, technique / body alignment form, and mirror work with a small section of hands-on practice. Cash payment is due upon arrival at a lesson.
Join USA Archery!
USA Archery Membership (only $15 / year) is required for all students after the first intro lesson for insurance reasons. Students must be aligned with “Sheroes Entertainment” as their club. To register with USA Archery for your Recreational Level (or above) membership please CLICK HERE.
AGES & ABILITIES
Approximately 20% of all archery students are ages 10-18 and 80% are adults.
Senior citizens are welcome to learn archery! The oldest archery student to date was 87!
Formal archery training is best suited for ages 8+. Children 3+ in age may shoot archery with their parents as long as they possess enough manners, listening skills, and emotional maturity to do so for 30+ MINUTES STRAIGHT.
Children 18 years of age or younger must be accompanied at all times by an adult during archery lessons. NO DROP OFFS.
Students with known physical restrictions (blindness, strength, back problems) can often be accommodated with specialized archery equipment or form modifications. Deaf and hard of hearing archery students are encouraged to have an interpreter present.
Archery is a weapons-based sport that can be fatal. Children and/or adults with significant mental health or behavior issues such as boundary respect issues, emotional or anger management issues, inability to focus, suicidal thoughts, thoughts of hurting animals or other people, or unregulated hyperactivity and focusing issues possess a serious risk to themselves and others and should not participate in archery.
What to Wear / Bring
Families Welcome! Photo Taken On Location in Sonoma, CA.
Archers attending any lessons are advised to wear close toe shoes such as sneakers or hiking boots, sunglasses, sunblock, compression fit shirt or other close fitting shirt (lose clothes get caught in the bowstring and ruin shots), and long pants. Bringing water to stay hydrated is encouraged.
If you have your own bow and know how to set it up please bring it with you. Otherwise all shooting equipment will be provided.
Proof of USA Archery Membership (CLICK HERE) - Required for archery lessons, but not for archery parties
What is It?
USA Archery, the governing body of archery in the United States, requires that all students enrolled in its sanctioned archery programs, practices, and archery lessons become members of its organization for insurance coverage. Annual registration to USA Archery is fast, cheap, and easy.
Which Level of Membership Do You Need?
If you plan on competing or being eligible for achievement programs (pins, rankings, tournaments, etc.) you will need the "Adult Membership" or "Youth Membership"
If you do NOT plan on competing the low-cost "Recreational Membership" is satisfactory.
How Do You Sign Up?
Once you select your desired membership level click on "Join / Renew" to proceed to the next page. You’ll need to create an account.
The top section is for "Club Affiliation." Select "California" as the State.
A "Club" drop down list will appear. Select "Sheroes Entertainment" as the club and complete the remainder of the form.
The website will display a confirmation screen with your new USA Archery number. Print out the screen and bring it with you.
ABOUT THE COACH
Archery Coordination and Coaching on set for Ellen
Virginia Hankins is a certified and insured USA Archery national level coach and Hollywood archery film advisor who helps archery students to "start right" in the extraordinary "Sport of Kings."
She specializes in starting new archers with proper international recurve bow foundational form, positive reinforcement, and focuses on a "slow and steady" and collaborative weight training approach to reduce the likelihood of injury in her archery students. She has been seen coaching celebrities on Ellen, working with the Tomb Raider video series, and was an archery consultant to Disney during the release of the movie “Brave.”
Widely known as being one of the best children's archery coaches in the archery industry, she has successfully trained over 10,000 people between 3 and 87 years of age to enjoy the sport of archery due to her unique and friendly precision coaching style. Her patient style serves this female archery coach well as a coach to foreign royalty, international sports celebrities, and stressed film production teams where she has a remarkable talent for helping actors and actresses to "look great and be safe" on camera in two hours or less.
Prior to finding her passion in coaching archery, Virginia trained as a recurve archer under two time world champion archery coach, competed nationally, was a member of the California State Archery Team, founded the University of Southern California (USC) Archery Team, assisted Disney-Pixar in its launch of the hit archery film Brave, and has performed live trick shots for up to 4,000 people. Virginia Hankins currently works in Hollywood as an on set archery coordinator, teaches as a national level USA Archery coach, serves as the resident archery expert and patch program creator for the Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast, and is the archery expert and archery stunt coordinator for the upcoming television show "Shoot to Thrill."
As a Level 3 USA archery coach certified in the National Training System (NTS) she is authorized to train Level 1 and Level 2 archery instructors for summer camps, recreational programs, and run full competitive, recreational, school, and camp programs in the USA Olympic Team Training Methods.
While most of her work is in coaching new recurve and longbow students, Virginia does assist with beginning compound bow and crossbow shooters (student must have their own compound or crossbow) too. Her attention to detail has enabled her to become certified for both Northern California and Southern California through the State of California Department of Fish & Wildlife (previously the Department of Fish and Game) for hunting safety... a specialty accreditation that merges both safety and performance in wilderness and high stress situations for archery and gun work.
Rent Archery Equipment For Film Productions
Are you interested in renting bows, targets, or other archery equipment? Please visit the online rental shop at Archery and More.
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Halloween Character Work and Comedy Acting Photos with Suzanne Gonzalez and Crystal Olguin
Demo Reels / On Camera Footage
Archery Coaching
Sample Hosting Demos - Historical Swords
Underwater & Mermaid Work
Contact
Please do NOT use this form for archery lessons, equipment rentals, or inquiries. All archery work is processed through www.ArcheryAndMore.com .
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