Hi my name is Phoebe and I am a guest blogger for Becoming a Teen, I am 16 now and have been playing football since I was 7, so I've had my fair share of experiences and dilemmas with puberty and sport.

The most recent one which I don't think I'll ever be able to erase from my memory was during the first round of a cup. We were playing away against a team for the first time and with it being the cup there was an added pressure that we had to win the game to get into the next round. It was a fairly early start and in my usual fashion I was running slightly late and rushing to get ready and out of the house. Everything was fine apart from the small bundle of nerves in my stomach, but that wasn't anything new.

It wasn't until we were on the pitch and I took my coat off that I felt more of a breeze. A lot more of a breeze than I usually do with my football top on. That's when I realised I'd managed to forget to put a bra on in my rush to get ready. Playing a 90 minute football match with no bra on is definitely something I do not recommend, however it has led me to double check whenever I get ready so I guess you do learn from these experiences.

To avoid an experience like that I recommend that when playing sport:

• You get a good supportive bra which you are comfortable in.
• To use antiperspirant rather than body spray, unless you plan to put off your opponent through smell.
• Bringing spare sanitary protection in a bag; I have a small bag I put inside my big kit bag.
• Packing a spare pair of pants in this bag too just in case.

I understand it is a pain to play any sport whilst on your period, but I find that once the game starts it has all your attention and you forget it’s your time of the month. Furthermore, if you are unlucky enough to get menstrual cramps during a game you can try moving about and concentrating on your movements which I've found eases the pain. Another method to erase menstrual cramps whilst playing is to stretch, this can be done whilst the ball is out of play or it is half time. The stretches don't even have to be exceeding difficult, you can simply try touching your toes or experiment with some of the ones on this website

With the England Women's team coming 3rd in the World Cup in Canada, girls’ football is gaining a lot more publicity and it is great to see lots of girls getting inspired and involved and I hope they will love the game as much as I do!