The 23-year-old Cornwall native and his St. Thomas Tommies teammates were called to a meeting Monday to find out the Fredericton, N.B., university was cancelling its men's hockey program for 2016-17.
"It's going to be a hard decision to (determine) what I want to do here," Cameron said Tuesday. "I'd still like to keep playing."
Cameron, who played a season with the Summerside Western Capitals and four with the Saint John Sea Dogs, is one of three Islanders on the Tommies. Stratford's Spencer MacDonald and Charlottetown's Jordan Moore are both third-year defencemen with the Tommies.
The university said the decision was made to address a budget deficit, and it is expected to save $245,000 annually by making the decision.
"It's obviously disappointing to hear the program is no longer going to be part of the university," said MacDonald, a 23-year-old blue-liner and a third-year economics student, who played with the Capitals, Sea Dogs and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. "Luckily I am graduating, so it's either more schooling or more hockey. We'll see."
The players are able to transfer to other universities without having to sit out a year, Atlantic University Sport (AUS) executive director Phil Currie said.
"I know there's a bunch of guys on our team now that aren't ready to give up hockey," Cameron said. "At this time of the year other teams are already bringing in recruits. I know it's going to be a hard time to actually find a spot."
UPEI Panthers men's hockey coach Forbes MacPherson said this is the time of year recruiting starts to pick up as junior teams get eliminated from the playoffs.
"It could add 22 to 25 more players to the pool of players we already established," he said of the St. Thomas decision. "It just adds more players to the equation."
Cameron's brother Randy attended St. Thomas for four years. The younger Cameron said the familiarity with the university helped in making the decision to attend St. Thomas.
"I was excited to come here," he said. "I knew it was going to be a good school and I knew it was a rebuilding team at that time."
Cameron has two-and-a-half years done of his economics degree and could graduate next year. Transferring universities could result in losing some credits, which makes the decision ever harder.
Cameron said the timing of the university's announcement is also difficult with exams starting next week.
"It definitely takes some of your attention away from your exams because you don't really know what you're going to do," he said. "It's going to be a long month trying to figure out what you future plans are going to be."
Currie said losing a university in any sport is difficult.
"Men's hockey, in a lot of ways, is a crown jewel, so it's hard to lose it there," he said. "You have to respect what the economic pressures are within our member institutions."
The conference had planned to go to two divisions with a 30-game schedule, up two games from this season. While the AUS is still determining what the impacts of Monday's decision will be, Currie said there would be no divisions for 2016-17. He added the member institutions do not want to play fewer than 28 games.
Conference's officials are working on a new schedule. It will have to be in place for the annual general meeting, May 4-6, in Cape Breton, N.S., when the schedules for all sports are ratified.
Mount Allison was the last university to leave men's hockey. The Mounties played their final season in 1997-98. Cape Breton's last hockey season was 1995-96.
Jason Cameron is unsure what his future holds.The 23-year-old Cornwall native and his St. Thomas Tommies teammates were called to a meeting Monday to find out the Fredericton, N.B., university was cancelling its men's hockey program for 2016-17.
"It's going to be a hard decision to (determine) what I want to do here," Cameron said Tuesday. "I'd still like to keep playing."
Cameron, who played a season with the Summerside Western Capitals and four with the Saint John Sea Dogs, is one of three Islanders on the Tommies. Stratford's Spencer MacDonald and Charlottetown's Jordan Moore are both third-year defencemen with the Tommies.
The university said the decision was made to address a budget deficit, and it is expected to save $245,000 annually by making the decision.
"It's obviously disappointing to hear the program is no longer going to be part of the university," said MacDonald, a 23-year-old blue-liner and a third-year economics student, who played with the Capitals, Sea Dogs and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. "Luckily I am graduating, so it's either more schooling or more hockey. We'll see."
The players are able to transfer to other universities without having to sit out a year, Atlantic University Sport (AUS) executive director Phil Currie said.
"I know there's a bunch of guys on our team now that aren't ready to give up hockey," Cameron said. "At this time of the year other teams are already bringing in recruits. I know it's going to be a hard time to actually find a spot."
UPEI Panthers men's hockey coach Forbes MacPherson said this is the time of year recruiting starts to pick up as junior teams get eliminated from the playoffs.
"It could add 22 to 25 more players to the pool of players we already established," he said of the St. Thomas decision. "It just adds more players to the equation."
Cameron's brother Randy attended St. Thomas for four years. The younger Cameron said the familiarity with the university helped in making the decision to attend St. Thomas.
"I was excited to come here," he said. "I knew it was going to be a good school and I knew it was a rebuilding team at that time."
Cameron has two-and-a-half years done of his economics degree and could graduate next year. Transferring universities could result in losing some credits, which makes the decision ever harder.
Cameron said the timing of the university's announcement is also difficult with exams starting next week.
"It definitely takes some of your attention away from your exams because you don't really know what you're going to do," he said. "It's going to be a long month trying to figure out what you future plans are going to be."
Currie said losing a university in any sport is difficult.
"Men's hockey, in a lot of ways, is a crown jewel, so it's hard to lose it there," he said. "You have to respect what the economic pressures are within our member institutions."
The conference had planned to go to two divisions with a 30-game schedule, up two games from this season. While the AUS is still determining what the impacts of Monday's decision will be, Currie said there would be no divisions for 2016-17. He added the member institutions do not want to play fewer than 28 games.
Conference's officials are working on a new schedule. It will have to be in place for the annual general meeting, May 4-6, in Cape Breton, N.S., when the schedules for all sports are ratified.
Mount Allison was the last university to leave men's hockey. The Mounties played their final season in 1997-98. Cape Breton's last hockey season was 1995-96.