A Verona native drafted by Sky Blue FC, Gov. Phil Murphy's professional soccer team, is making it clear she has no intention of joining the club.

Instead, Julia Ashley, the Verona High School and University of North Carolina alum, is traveling nearly 4,000 miles to play in Sweden.

Her decision comes as the National Women's Soccer League franchise is plagued by reports that it had no locker rooms, no running water, and that players had to wear dirty gear during practice last year, her agent said.

UCLA defender Hailie Mace, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft held Jan. 10, also has decided not to join the team, The Equalizer reported. And Amanda Frisbie and Rebekah Stott, Sky Blue teammates from last season, left the team, Sky Blue announced Thursday.

Mace, 21, and Ashley, 22, were in a group of eight players announced as 2019 draft picks for Sky Blue, a Piscataway-based team.

Ashley was set to go to training camp and join her home state team on the pitch. But multiple reports of degraded team facilities, first reported by soccer publication The Equalizer, caused Ashley to make the decision of not playing for Sky Blue. Further cementing her choice were accounts from her friends and her own experience training with the team, said Takumi Jeannin, her agent.

"More than the article or anything like that, it's more like what she heard from her friends and the experience she had with Sky Blue when she trained with them," said Jeannin, of the firm A&V Sports. "I think everybody knows what’s going wrong with them. No running water, lack of locker rooms. All things like that. Everybody knows."

Some of Ashley's friends -- fellow soccer players -- corroborated the reports of rundown facilities and, despite her hope that she would play in the NWSL, especially in her home state, Ashley began to explore options abroad, Jeannin said.

For weeks prior to the NWSL Draft, Ashley and Jeannin made it clear that Ashley would not play with Sky Blue, even if selected by the team, Jeannin said.

A&V Sports announced this week that Ashley would be joining Linköpings FC, a Swedish soccer team.

Tony Novo, Sky Blue's president and general manager, says Ashley would not have been selected by the team if the interest wasn't mutual.

"Our head coach Denise Reddy had conversations with both her and her agent," Novo said. "If there was no opportunity for her to play, we wouldn’t have drafted her. There was opportunity, there was interest."

While Novo asserts that both sides had explored Ashley joining the team, he sees Ashley's foray into European soccer as an opportunity for development, as well as a larger purse.

"There’s always a risk that a player is going to go abroad," Novo said. "You have those conversations. We come into the 2019 season and a player decides to do something else."

"Some players, a quality player like that, has a tremendous opportunity to go abroad because their incomes are pretty strong abroad," Novo added.

Damaged facilities, no timeline

At the root of Ashley's decision are the reports that Sky Blue's facilities are lacking. Playing for the NWSL was a "priority" for her, Jeannin said. But the lack of a professional environment made her joining untenable.

According to Novo, reports are exaggerated, if not inaccurate.

"I can tell you there have been some stories that were not correct," Novo said. "We’re going to continue to make improvements for housing for our players and conditions for an environment that any professional player would want to be in."

On Jan. 10, Novo said an announcement on improvements would be released within 30 days. On Thursday, Novo did not give a timeline for these improvements, saying they would be "announced shortly."

Daniel Bryan, spokesman for Murphy, who is the team's majority owner, referred questions back to Sky Blue FC.

But last July, Murphy released a statement assuring team supporters that changes were forthcoming.

"Like male athletes, women athletes deserve a first-rate experience, both in the workplace and off the field," Murphy said. "It is clear that the players on Sky Blue FC have not consistently received such treatment. That is simply not acceptable. That's why, although we don't manage day-to-day operations, fellow owner Steve Temares and I have required accountability from team management to improve working conditions for players."

Sky Blue supporters disappointed

The reports of Sky Blue's problems have cost the team two highly ranked draft picks in Ashley and Mace.

For supporters of the team, such as Jennifer Muller, a leader of Cloud 9, the official fan club of Sky Blue FC, the problems are indicative of dysfunction, starting with Novo.

"I think it says a lot when a top draft pick, who is from New Jersey, whose friends and family were hoping to get to see her play every week, has chosen not to come," Muller said. "I can't speak for her, but it's not only the facilities, it’s the overall incompetency of the front office. Tony Novo, namely."

Sky Blue's insistence on drafting Ashley and Mace not only cost the team better picks, but the NWSL two top players, Muller said. If a team drafts a player, they retain that player's rights for one season, making them unable to play for any other team in the NWSL for the season.

"It’s going to be more of the same if the league doesn’t step in," Muller said. "There’s a lot of complicit parties in this."

With less than 10 days before Ashley laces up her cleats and steps on a pitch for Linköpings FC, the possibility of joining Sky Blue, at this time, is zero, Jeannin said. But, if improvements are made, Ashley would consider returning to her home state to do what she does best.

"Julia is a New Jersey girl," Jeannin said. "She grew up 40 miles from the Sky Blue facilities. I’m sure she'd be so proud to represent her home state. If changes are made and it shows the level of the team is on the rise again ... why not?"

Email: torrejon@northjersey.com