It's a very positive week at Balls & Whistles, not in the least because Strathpeffer paracyclist Fin Graham claimed his second silver medal of the Paralympic Games yesterday morning!

We also look back on a solid weekend for both Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County in league action, before taking a look at the upcoming matches for ICT, the Highland League and even an Inverness derby in the North Caledonian League.

Away from football, club rugby is back! All three of Highland's teams are in action, with the Raptors facing a local derby against Ross Sutherland in the North Caledonia Two which will be the first competitive action any of them have seen in 18 months.

There's just enough time to talk about the Camanachd Cup and a first time reporting on a particular sport for Will before we go too.

Get in touch with the show on Twitter (@Balls_Whistles) or by emailing [email protected], and thanks as always are due to Forest Fires for our theme song: Scared of the Dark.

It is a golden episode of Balls & Whistles as we discuss winning teams and athletes across a number of sports! First up is Rangers as the Scottish Premiership winners travel to Ross County on Sunday with the Staggies having signed yet another player on loan this week - is that a good thing for Malky Mackay's team?

Of course, we also look ahead to Inverness Caledonian Thistle's home match against Ayr United in the Championship, the next round of Highland League games and women's football updates, as well as hearing from the Inverness District Amateur Football Association's Premier Division champions Loch Ness.

There were a few different winners in athletics over the last week, with Megan Keith and Kirsty Law just two of the names hitting the headlines, while Ross County Cricket Club were successful in their bid to lift the Nosca Senior Cup trophy for the first time since 2000.

As always, if you want to get in touch with the show you can do so on Twitter (@Balls_Whistles) or by emailing [email protected], and thanks are also due to Forest Fires for our theme Scared of the Dark.

There was some shock news coming out of Brora Rangers last weekend as manager Steven Mackay handed in his resignation. We look at the events that led to Mackay's decision, and wonder where the Cattachs go from here as they look to salvage their Highland League title bid already...

It is a free weekend for Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but we look back at each team's contrasting fortunes last time out, as well as previewing this weekend's Highland League action.

Away from football, Ross County Cricket Club are looking to lift the North of Scotland Senior Cup for the first time in 21 years tomorrow as they host Forres, while in shinty Lovat are Inverness-shire's only representative left after Beauly's dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat to Kyles Athletic.

Will also got a taste of martial arts as he talked to HMAC coach Aiden Mackenzie about his squad of Jiu-jitsu hopefuls that are travelling to Wolverhampton for the European Championships.

Get in touch with the show on Twitter (@Balls_Whistles) or by emailing [email protected], and thanks as always are due to Forest Fires for our theme song Scared of the Dark.

In a special episode of Balls and Whistles, Steven Mackay tells Alasdair Fraser why he has resigned from Highland League champions Brora Rangers.

The dream team is back together as Andrew returns from two weeks off to discuss Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle's starts to their respective league campaigns with Will.

It's not just the SPFL that are back, though, as the Highland League is also a couple of weeks into the season - with disappointing results already on the board for Nairn County and Clachnacuddin.

Away from football, can Beauly spring another Camanachd Cup upset to knock out Kyles Athletic and reach the semi finals? Why were basketball players celebrating? How did Queens Park Stadium steal a march on other Scottish venues? And perhaps more importantly, why does Will think football, tennis and golf should not be part of the Olympic Games?

Get in touch with the show via Twitter (@Balls_Whistles) or by emailing [email protected], and thanks as always are due to Forest Fires for our theme song Scared of the Dark.

Hendo is still on holiday and Will has no friends. So he is on his own again this week reviewing the latest in Highland sport.

On this week's show, Alasdair meets with Caley Thistle midfielder Aaron Doran and Ross County manager Malky Mackay to chat about the new league season.

Clachnacuddin manager Jordan MacDonald and Nairn County manager Ronnie Sharp tell us their thoughts on how the Highland League has started for them.

Federica meets with Inverness Craig Dunain's Erin Green who has become a young rugby ambassador.

And Will meets a golfer who is taking part in his 50th consecutive Brora Golf Club Five Day Open.

Will Clark is heroically steering the podcast wheel on his own while Andrew Henderson is on best man duties organising a massive party through Fraserburgh under current social distance guidelines to celebrate his brother's wedding.

So this week, he is reading all the big sport stories reported in our newspapers across the Highlands and Moray. It includes reaction to Caley Thistle and Ross County's doomed adventure in the Premier Sports Cup, the Highland League kicking off this weekend, Ross County taking on Forres in T20 final action and a story about Inverness Harriers and a cigarette case.

The Premier Sports Cup group stages are well under way, but first up we have a Paralympian! Fin Graham's place in the Great Britain paracycling squad for Tokyo was confirmed yesterday morning, and just a couple of hours after the news broke he spoke to Will, and we've got the full conversation here.

Of course, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Brora Rangers have already kicked off in the League Cup, while Ross County play their first match this weekend after being forced to forfeit their opener against Forfar Athletic last weekend.

Will was also around the grounds last weekend, visiting Nairn St Ninian as they played a pre-season friendly against Forres, following that up with a trip to Grant Street Park to see Clachnacuddin Women in action against Kirkwall City in the Highlands and Islands League Cup.

Finally this week, we discuss Inverness Harrier Stroma Fraser who claimed a gold medal in the Scottish Under-17 National Championships heptathlon - what is in the water at Fortrose Academy?

Look on our Twitter page (@Balls_Whistles) for details of our fantasy football league for this season, and you can also get in touch with the show for any reason there, or by emailing [email protected]. Thanks, too, are due to Forest Fires for our theme song Scared of the Dark.

The Scottish domestic football season starts this weekend! It feels like we've barely had time to put our feet up since the 2020/21 campaign ended, but the Premier Sports Cup group stages kick off tonight, so it felt like the right time to do a season preview for Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County.

With Will on annual leave, Andrew spoke to Andrew Young from the Wyness Shuffle podcast and Staggies' supporter liaison officer Kenny MacLennan to get their thoughts on what's been going on at the Highlands' professional clubs over the off-season, and gauge how optimistic they are about their respective chances of success.

You can find The Wyness Shuffle on Twitter (@TheICTPodcast), as well as Kenny (@RCFC_SLO), and you can also get in touch with Balls & Whistles on the platform (@Balls_Whistles) or by emailing [email protected]. Thanks as always are also due to Forest Fires for our theme song, Scared of the Dark.

There are returns aplenty on this episode of Balls & Whistles, as Andrew is back from annual leave and Covid-19 forces more cancellations across football and shinty in particular.

Will did manage to see Inverness Caledonian Thistle in action across two pre-season friendlies though, so he's passing on his impressions of Billy Dodds' side, while with just eight days to go before Ross County open their League Cup group stage the Staggies have added a second signing of the summer to their squad in the form of striker Dominic Samuel.

Updates are also incoming from amateur football across the Highlands as well as women's football, before a spotlight on the Back to Basics 10k taking place in Forres this weekend - and yet another club record for hammer thrower Rachel Maclennan.

Finally, fixtures are out for the Highland Wildcats who are also looking to recruit new players, and Ross Sutherland Rugby Club's development officer John Mann gets set to take on seven triathlons in seven days next week.

Get in touch with the show on Twitter (@Balls_Whistles) or by emailing [email protected], and thanks as always go to Forest Fires for our theme song Scared of the Dark.