It’s the first day of summer. In the basement of the Boys & Girls Club of Napa — a space that hosts Club 15-15 — a bunch of teenagers are having fun.

Fourteen-year-old Pedro Segoviano shoots some pool against his peers. He hopes to earn some bragging rights.

“If you miss this, you suck,” Segoviano says to his opponent.

The opponent misses and Segoviano is still in the game — in more ways than one.

By being at Club 15-15 and playing pool, he is staying out of trouble and having a good time while doing it.

During the summer, the Boys & Girls Club of Napa offers Club 15-15 and a myriad of other programs to keep teens active and away from bad influences such as gangs and underage drinking.

Gang tensions are calm for now in Napa, Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein said, but summer presents challenges. Some kids will get into trouble because they will not have anything to do. That’s why programs such as the Boys & Girls Club are so important in steering kids away from trouble, he said.

“There are still kids out there, the tension ... but by and large it’s below the surface,” he said. “I never want the message to get out that we have the problem handled. You manage the best you can and put out the hot spots when they come up.”

At the Club 15-15, there are no hot spots — just fun. Teenagers play pool and music. A big-screen TV shows movies. A row of computers is available for e-mail and Facebook status updates.

“I’d probably be home bored,” Segoviano said. “It keeps it fun without being bad.”

 The programs run out of the Boys & Girls Club are part of an intricate system coordinated by the Gang Violence Prevention Council that’s designed to keep gangs and youth violence at bay in Napa.

The council involves nearly every facet of law enforcement in the county, the Napa Valley Unified School District, the Napa County Office of Education, several county departments as well as the Boys & Girls Club.

“We are doing everything we can, but so are a lot of other people,” said Eric Dreikosen, director of operations at the Boys & Girls Club. “We are just trying to keep them engaged. It’s their club, it’s their environment.”

The Boys & Girls Club of Napa is part of a countywide group, the Gang Violence Suppression Council, whose partners include every police department, the Sheriff’s Office, the county Probation Department and district attorney’s office, the Napa Valley Unified School District, the county Office of Education and various nonprofit agencies such as On The Move.

Napa’s predominant gangs are Norteños and Sureños, but it also has factions of white supremacist groups as well as lesser-known gangs and sets. About 700 known gang members operate within the city of Napa, according to Cal-Gang, a data base operated by the state attorney general’s office.

The Gang Violence Suppression Council shares information and training. The council was born out of Napa’s first recorded gang slaying — the 1998 murder of Michael Arreguin.

Today, the council is jockeying to replace expiring state grants to fight gangs. Lieberstein said the council is applying for a $300,000 grant to pay for a full-time probation officer for gang cases, a gang investigator for the district attorney’s office, a Napa County Office of Education gang violence suppression education coordinator, police salaries for probation searches and patrols at special events and nonprofits such as the Napa Boys & Girls Club.

The Napa Valley Unified School District is applying for a two-year, $250,000 grant for after-school programs. 

“We continue to aggressively seek out these grants,” Lieberstein said.

Many members of the Gang Violence Prevention Council are involved in the Criminal Justice Committee, a Napa County-led effort to reduce the jail population and crime.