Fara Williams thinks that young girls don't want to put on a football kit as they reach puberty.
Fara Williams has teamed up with Bluebella lingerie's #StrongIsBeautiful campaign to encourage girls to be proud of their bodies and keep playing team sports
The 39-year-old footballer - who plays as a Lioness for the England national team - explained that there is been a "big drop" in young girls taking to the pitch because of the rate at which their bodies are changing after a survey by Women In Sport found that 64% of young girls quit the sport before they start secondary school.
She said: "There is a big drop off in women's football around the age of 13. I have coached girls at that age and their bodies are changing so quickly and you can see that they really struggle with that. Often girls would come back after the six-week summer break and during that time they had gone through a major transition into young women, looking different and feeling different. They struggle with what their body is changing into and often just want to cover up, and sometimes don't want to put on a football kit and be more visible."
Fara now believes that it is necessary to "educate" children from a young age about the hormonal changes that young girls experience in order to make them feel more "comfortable and confident" in keeping up football once they reach a certain age.
She added: "I think we have to educate from a young age about the changes girls experience in sport and how we can support them during that process to make them feel more comfortable and confident."
Speaking ahead of the World Cup as part of Bluebella lingerie's #StrongIsBeautiful campaign, Fara admitted that it was seen as "different" for her to want to play football when she was at school and explained that even though things have "improved", there is still a long way to go until women are seen as equal in football.
She said: "Back when I was at school for a girl to want to play football was seen as quite different to the norm, and you had to be really resilient at sticking with it.
"I think with the success of the Lionesses and greater exposure to women's sport is helping to improve things but it's still lacking the support that the boys get and girls are still treated like second class citizens in the sport."