Richard Wagner began his journey with Georgia Soccer in 1970 when he became the coach of the Decatur-DeKalb Youth Soccer League. Wagner was also one of six coaches that helped to develop the Classic Division as part of Georgia Soccer's youth soccer program. Wagner encouraged youth coaches to seek certification and worked to promote, organize, sponsor and administer state certification courses. He recruited coaches from the Georgia Adult Amateur Program and various professional teams across the state, as well as talent that had coached and played abroad prior to moving to Georgia. In 1977, Wagner began coaching girls soccer teams before being honored in 1989 when the U16 Girls State Championship Cup was named the Dick Wagner Cup.
During his 20 year tenure with Georgia Soccer, Wagner made an immense impact. Not only did he serve as a coach and coach certification coordinator, he also acted as a league committee chair, committee member, league officer, referee and referee coordinator for both the Decatur-DeKalb YMCA and DeKalb County Parks and Recreation.
At the state level, he was a member of the Georgia Association of Soccer Coaches, even serving as President for a time. Wagner also served on the GYSA Board of Directors as both the chair and a member of a number of state championship and invitational tournaments for GSSA, GYSA and GSSD, and assisted when foreign teams visited Georgia.
Wagner's accomplishments and dedication were greatly appreciated and he was inducted into the Georgia Soccer Hall of Fame in 2009.