Cheer pom poms come in four main types: plastic (the standard, most durable and affordable), metallic (shiniest under stadium lights), holographic (colour-shifting sparkle), and LED (the newest category, where the pom itself lights up). Standard performance size is 6 inches. Most teams buy in bulk in school colours, and the right choice depends on whether you perform mostly in daylight, indoors, or at night.
The four types of cheer poms
| Type | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Plastic | Practice, daytime games, big squads on a budget | Reads flat under night lighting |
| Metallic | Catching stadium and gym lights | Needs light hitting it to do anything |
| Holographic | Colour-shifting sparkle on camera | Same limitation — it reflects, it doesn't emit |
| LED | Night games, halftime, competitions, dark gyms | Higher cost per pair; made to order |
The thing worth understanding: plastic, metallic and holographic poms all reflect light. If the stadium goes dark for a halftime routine, they disappear. LED poms emit light, which is why they've become the option teams ask about for night performances.
What size cheer poms should you buy?
6 inches is the standard performance size for cheer and dance, and it's what most squads use for games and competition. Smaller poms are typically youth sizes; oversized poms are mostly for crowd giveaways and spirit packs rather than routines.
Handles: the part people underestimate
Handle style affects grip through a full routine more than most buyers expect.
- Baton handle — the performance standard. Secure through fast arm motions and sharp stops.
- Strap handle — wraps the hand; common for youth teams.
- Double-ended baton — balanced in the hand, and what our LED poms use.
Choosing team colours
Most squads order two colours matching school colours, often split within a single pom. Metallic silver and gold are common accent colours because they pick up stadium lighting. If you're ordering for a full squad, confirm the colour split before production — it's the most common thing teams get wrong on a bulk order.
More detail: choosing cheer pom pom colours.
Buying for a whole squad
Bulk is how nearly every team buys. Per-pair pricing improves with quantity, and lead times matter more than most squads plan for — anything made to order needs to be ordered well before your season or competition date. Full breakdown: bulk cheer pom pom orders.
Where LED poms fit
LED poms are the newest category, and most of what's sold under that name is not built for performance: a single LED sits in the plastic handle while the pom itself stays dark. That's a light-up handle, not a light-up pom.
Ours are built the other way around — the LEDs are engineered into the pom, so every streamer glows, and a handheld remote changes the colour on the fly. That means a squad can match colours to each song, segment or routine and switch in a second. Neon Cowboys was the first to bring working remote-controlled LED pom poms to market.
6-inch performance poms. Remote-controlled color-changing LEDs built into the pom itself. Premium double-ended baton handle in your team colors. Made to order, ships in about 4–6 weeks. Bulk pricing for squads — custom color mixes on orders of 10+ pairs.
See the LED pom poms → · Request team pricing
Dance, drill & majorette teams
The dance side has its own vocabulary and its own requirements. In competitive dance, Pom is a judged division — alongside Jazz, Hip Hop, Kick and Lyrical — which makes the poms part of a scored routine rather than an accessory. Majorette and drill lines perform mostly at distance under stadium lights, where uniformity across the whole line is everything.
Night games & theme nights
Most of what a squad performs in the dark — night games, halftime, blackout themes, glow nights, blacklight pep rallies — is exactly where traditional poms stop working, because they reflect light instead of producing it.
Caring for cheer poms
- Store them fluffed and hanging, not crushed in the bottom of a bag — crushing is what ruins streamers.
- Shake out and separate streamers after each use.
- Keep electronics dry. LED poms are performance equipment, not pool toys.
- For LED poms, see our care guide and remove or disconnect power before any cleaning.
More on LED poms
- How LED pom poms work
- Bulk & wholesale team orders
- High school cheer & pep squads
- College cheer & dance teams
- Dance, drill & majorette teams
- Halftime & stadium performances
Team pricing, custom colours or questions: info@neoncowboys.com.