The NSP has a system of awards designed to recognize and reward its patrollers for outstanding service in individual events and for extended service to the association. The national awards program may be supplemented on the Division, Region, Section, or NSP patrol level. Many of the awards can be made at any time during the year. NSP officers are reminded that for all awards, except the national outstanding awards, a minimum of 45 days, from receipt in the national office, is needed to process the award.
An award of any type is one of the few things we as an organization can give back to our members as thanks for the dedication and service provided not only to the skiing public but the organization itself.
Awards can be submitted to your Region Awards Advisor at any time of year with the exception of the Outstanding Awards which have a specific deadline each spring, Each Region has slightly different times for requiring their submissions for Outstandings, so each Patrol Representative or Patrol Awards Advisor should check your Region web site or contact the Region Awards Advisor to verify any deadline dates.
For awards other than Outstandings, an early submission will allow your Region Awards Advisor the time to work with you to improve and polish your submissions.
We strongly encourage all patrols to electronically "pre-submit" to their Region Awards Advisors all submissions from Appointments to Outstandings. This way, these e-mailed submissions can be readily examined and if they need to be changed or they do not quite meet National guidelines, the Region Awards Advisor can easily reply and suggest the necessary changes. Some submissions just need to be clarified, some need to be placed in another category, and some just do not fit National criteria.
Once the submissions are pre-approved, the hand signed cover sheet can then be sent on by post to your Region Awards Advisor who will present them to the Region Awards Committee to examine and give final approval. This means sponsors sign on the sponsor line and patrol reps sign on the Patrol rep line- nowhere else.
Accepted awards are sent back from National to the Region Awards Advisor or Region Director only!
We also strongly encourage each Region Awards Committee to electronically send any of their Region Awards Committee's accepted submissions or inquiries (for Merit Stars, LCAs, Nationals, DSAs, MSAs, and Patrollers' Crosses) to the Central Division Awards Advisor before the hand signed submissions are sent on to the Division Advisor by mail.
This technique works well- it may seem time consuming, but electronic communications do greatly speed up the process and assure greater accuracy and acceptance at National.
Those Regions and Patrols who have been doing this have had extreme success in getting their awards accepted at Division and National levels.
A complete listing of awards and their descriptions can be viewed on the NSP website under the latest Policies and Procedures -- Chapter 12.