Wales Under-17s: FAW's Dave Adams hails Euro Under-17 qualification
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Cardiff City's Dylan Lawlor celebrates with team-mates after scoring the goal that secured qualification for Wales Under-17s
Football Association of Wales chief of football Dave Adams says reaching a finals tournament will be an "unbelievable shop window" for Wales' Under-17s.
Wales have qualified for the Uefa European Under-17 Championship finals after a 2-2 draw against Montenegro.
It is the first time Wales have qualified for any youth finals since the 1981 Uefa Under-18 Championship.
"Getting to a finals tournament is fantastic," Adams said.
"It's all about cap accumulation and giving players exposure and playing in a finals tournament is obviously fantastic for young player development.
"We're all about giving players that opportunity and giving them exposure at senior level.
"That's kind of our job in the association, to make sure we get the right games programme, the right opportunities for players and giving them a pathway.
"We've invested significant resources in our programme. We recognised we need to invest for succession planning of elite players
"You've got to give players the right training, the right environment and we hope we're doing that really well and I'm confident we'll continue to be really successful."
Wales' under-17s qualified for the European Under-17 Championship finals for the first time after finishing top of a group also including Scotland and Iceland in the elite round.
Craig Knight's side will be among the 16 teams taking part in the finals in Hungary, which begin in May.
The squad includes Gabriele Biancheri, who recently left Cardiff City to join Manchester United, and Iwan Morgan, who is making an impression at Swansea City.
Birmingham City's 18-year-old midfielder Jordan James won his first senior cap against Croatia in the Euro 2024 qualifier last Saturday, while Swansea's Ollie Cooper made his debut in Tuesday's win over Latvia.
Adams says the crop of youngsters making their mark at senior level highlights the pathway that is in place for age-grade players to be fast-tracked to the senior team.
"You never know with these opportunities," Adams told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
"We play in Hungary now in the finals tournament - it's an unbelievable shop window.
"If these players play well in that tournament, who knows it could be very, very quick.
"It's very hard to predict in some ways but all we can do is give players the opportunity, the platform and we're doing that pretty well I think."