In the glorious sunshine it clearly didn't take long to dry out because an hour or so later it was picked up by an unsuspecting - and very much the worse for wear - mob who proceeded to hide it in their drinks chiller, much to the amusement of the original kidnappers.
I could make a comment about getting on the p***, but I don't think that's very tasteful so I shall refrain.
Now before you start calling the SPCA I have to point out it wasn't a real alpaca, more like a sort of a pinata-type one.
Actually, it was a pinata.
Anyway, the soccer was excellent to sit and watch in a carnival atmosphere that made the World Cup in Rio look extravagant.
Plenty of skills were on show - smart backheels, some terrific goalkeeping and lots of goals to be enjoyed - but I did miss the background action of armed troops trying to clean out the local favelas and street carnivals with masses of fruit atop the heads of overly made-up women.
But there were 24 teams from around the upper North Island taking part and many were dressed in amusing outfits for their on-field appearances.
One mob took the field as Amish schoolboys. Slightly strange, well, okay, very strange, but at least the daggy mo-less beards were fake. The straw hats and braces for their shorts weren't.
My favourite fancy-dressers were the Mexican-looking Razzle Dazzle, who played great football and had a heck of a lot of fun doing so.
They were from Hamilton and maybe that's why they missed the chance to have a team name that really shone.
In my view they should have made it a mix of a famous Mexican bandit and the English Premier League side Aston Villa and called themselves ... Poncho Villa.
Well, I thought it was good ...
For me the funniest moment of the competition was when one very stout winger began a sprint down the field and the pass from a teammate put the ball about 30 metres ahead of him.
Clear as a bell across the three pitches you could hear him yell: "You must be effing kidding."
He gave up the chase, but received plenty of applause for his good sense - and humour.
Now the overall winners of the competition's cup were Futsaljahs, a combination XI from Tauranga.
They defeated Auckland's Waitakere Rangers 2-0 in extra-time.
It was a great game in testing, windy conditions on Sunday.
I reckon Tauranga City United's social tournament was, yet again, an absolute winner and the organisers should be very happy with the way things went.
Shame about the alpaca though.
---
Saturday was also the first day of weekend lifeguarding along our coast and the crew at Papamoa Surf Lifesaving Club was all business as they kicked off the new season.
There were quite a few things to organise - putting names down for future refresher courses, as well as getting back into the swing of CPR courtesy of two rubber half-bodies.
Then there was coming to grips with a new digital radio system lifeguards have for the coming summer.
It also meant the focus of my camera lenses is, for the warmer months, going to be regularly on the great guys and gals from the surf club as they try to keep people safe on our beaches.
And I reckon I am on to a bit of a winner because at the World Interclub Championships at Montpellier, France, our young stars took out the youth World Interclub title. And that was with a team of only seven when a full compliment is 13!
And the club's fantastic IRB team became 2014 World Champions at the same event.
I have been following the IRB crews for some time and they put in a massive amount of time practising their drills so that anyone in trouble at Papamoa Beach stands the best chance of being rescued.
We should all remember that it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to keep clubs like Papamoa going and they don't get money from local councils or the Government. They depend upon the goodwill of their members and generous donations from individuals, businesses and community groups.
Let's give them what we can.
• Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.richard@richardmoore.com
