Add to your team order
Light-Up LED Pom Poms
Metallic streamers with LEDs built into the pom, a rechargeable pack, and one remote that changes the whole team’s color at once.
$145 USD per pair
A Texas high school drill team dances at football halftime in the fall, competes in winter and spring and closes the year with a spring show; Bellaire High’s Belles dance at halftime at all 10 varsity games and compete twice in the spring. Drill teams do not come under UIL rules; the director and the booster club decide what the team buys. Directors buy for the whole team at once: field uniforms, contest costumes, props and poms. Light-up poms carry the night halftime, the pep rally and the spring show, at $120 a pair on 10 or more pairs.
What does a Texas drill team’s year look like?
| When | What happens | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Late July | Football-season practice begins | Sizes in, uniforms checked |
| Football season | Halftime at every varsity home game; Bellaire’s varsity usually dances a kick, a pom and a jazz routine | Field uniforms and poms |
| All year | Garland ISD lists football games, basketball games, pep rallies and parades among a director’s duties | Gear that works indoors, outdoors and after dark |
| Winter and spring | Contests: Bellaire attends one solo competition in the winter and two team competitions in the spring | Contest costumes and props per routine |
| Spring show | Texas High’s HighSteppers perform all seven contest dances in the show, in costume, with lights | Your own stage and your own lighting |
Sources: The Buzz Magazines, Garland ISD, Tiger Times, Texas High School. The UIL says cheerleading and drill teams “do not come under UIL rules,” though No Pass No Play and the eight-hour practice limit still apply (source: UIL).
Why do Texas drill teams look the way they do?
The look started in Texas. Gussie Nell Davis became pep-squad director at Greenville High School in 1928 and trained the “Flaming Flashes” with small wooden batons, flags, props, drums and bugles; the Handbook of Texas calls them the first twirl-and-dance group. In 1940 she started the Kilgore College Rangerettes, in white Western hats, belts and boots, red tops and blue skirts, and later co-founded American Drill Team Schools (sources: Handbook of Texas: Gussie Nell Davis, Handbook of Texas: the Kilgore Rangerettes).
What that means for a director: the hat, the boots and the kick line are the inheritance, and they are the big-ticket, long-life part of the budget. Poms, contest costumes and props are the parts that change from year to year. See college drill teams and the Rangerettes.
What does a director order for the whole team?
| Item | Used for | Who makes it |
|---|---|---|
| Field uniform: leotard, skirt, overlay, belt, gauntlets, tights, boots, hat | Halftime, parades, pep rallies | Your uniform supplier |
| Contest costumes | One look per contest routine | Your costume maker |
| Contest poms | Pom routines judged under each contest’s rules | Your pom supplier, to the rulebook |
| Light-up poms | Night halftime, pep rallies, parades and the spring show | Us: $120 a pair on 10+ pairs |
| Props | Prop and novelty routines | Built or bought per routine |
| A lit finale costume | The spring show finale | Us: the LED fringe sequin bodysuit, quoted |
The field uniform list is the one Denton High School’s Fillies booster club published when it set out to raise about $15,000 to replace 30 full field uniforms (source: Denton High School Fillies Booster Club). We don’t make drill team hats or boots; your uniform supplier does.
Which poms does a drill team need?
Two sets, for two jobs. In contest, poms are judged equipment: Miss Dance Drill Team, Texas says that in its pom category “Poms should be utilized for the (75%) majority of the routine,” and its Gameday category allows only spirit towels and poms as props (source: MDDT Texas guidelines). Buy contest poms to each contest’s rules, and ask the contest in writing before you use anything else in a judged routine; we don’t claim any rulebook approves light-up poms.
Game season is different. Under the field lights, metallic poms sparkle; when the stadium goes dark for a halftime feature, or the gym goes dark for a pep rally, they disappear. Light-up poms make their own light and switch colour together by remote, so a team of 60 changes colour on one count. The spring show is your own stage, where you set the lights.
How many pairs does a drill team need?
Texas drill teams are big, and every member dances the pom routines. At our team rate of $120 a pair on 10 or more pairs:
| Group | Pairs | Cost at the team rate |
|---|---|---|
| Officer line of 8 | 10 | $1,200 |
| Drill team of 30 | 32 | $3,840 |
| Drill team of 60 | 62 | $7,440 |
Pair counts include two spares. One set switches between school colours and any theme colour, so the same poms cover the football season, the pep rallies and the spring show.
How do directors pay for a whole-team order?
| Line | Who usually pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Field uniforms, boots and hats | Booster club, school budget or member fees | Bought for the whole team so everything matches |
| Contest costumes | Booster club or member fees | One per contest routine |
| Light-up poms | Booster club or the program budget | One set for halftime, pep rallies and the spring show |
| Props | Booster club | Built or bought per routine |
| Spring show production | Ticket sales | Lights, sound and the finale |
Ask your school’s purchasing office early whether a booster purchase needs a written quote and a purchase order.
When should a director order?
| When | What to lock in |
|---|---|
| Spring tryouts | The new team and officers are set; take sizes for every member |
| Early summer | Request quotes for uniforms, poms and costumes |
| Late July | Football-season practice; routines for halftime |
| First home game | Poms charged and set to school colours |
| Contest season | Contest routines follow each contest’s rules |
| Spring show | Every routine of the year on your own stage |
Send your first performance date when you ask for a quote and we will tell you plainly what fits.
Who runs what on the day?
| Role | Job |
|---|---|
| Drill team director | Routines, the look, the order and the budget |
| Officers and lieutenants | Sizes, line checks and the pom charge list |
| Booster club | Fundraising, payment and the spring show |
| Band director | Halftime music and where the team stands in the show |
| School purchasing | Quotes and purchase orders |
Put one officer in charge of the remote and the spares bag at every game.
How do you request a quote for a drill team?
Email or DM us with the team size, school colours, your first home game and your spring show date. We make our light-up products ourselves and will tell you plainly what fits your date. See team orders for how a group order works.
Frequently asked questions
Do Texas drill teams come under UIL rules?
No. The UIL says cheerleading and drill teams do not come under UIL rules, though No Pass No Play and the eight-hour practice limit still apply.
What routines do Texas drill teams perform?
At halftime, often a kick, a pom and a jazz routine. Contests add categories such as military, prop, novelty, hip hop and lyrical.
When is drill team contest season in Texas?
Winter and spring, after football. Miss Dance Drill Team, Texas holds its 2027 regionals on January 30 and February 6 and its state contest on February 20.
What is a drill team spring show?
The team’s own end-of-year show. Texas High’s HighSteppers perform all seven contest dances in theirs, in costume, with stage lights.
What is in a drill team field uniform?
Denton High’s Fillies list leotards, skirts, overlays, belts, gauntlets, tights, boots and hats.
How much do light-up poms cost for a drill team?
Our team rate is $120 a pair on 10 or more pairs. A drill team of 30 with two spares is 32 pairs, or $3,840 at that rate.
See also: band dance teams and dance lines, drill team competitions and pep rally themes.
Sources: The Buzz Magazines, Garland ISD, Tiger Times, Texas High School, UIL, Handbook of Texas: Gussie Nell Davis, Handbook of Texas: the Kilgore Rangerettes, Denton High School Fillies Booster Club, MDDT Texas guidelines.
Team, school and contest names are used only to identify them. None is affiliated with or endorses Neon Cowboys.
Questions: info@neoncowboys.com.
