Yes, recruiting mainly takes place at the club level but it can not hurt to play in a very tough league like the IAAM, ISL, or WCAC.
Think about this when all things are equal and a coach at a college has one open slot and must choose between a girl who has been through a tough private school season and one who coasted through a less-than-competitive public school season which one of those girls do you think would get chosen?
Also, most of the improvement you will see from the players come during HS because they are practicing every day for a couple of hours on top of games the HS Coach will have a huge impact on how your daughter progresses and improves over the next few years and most of the better coaches at the private schools.
For those who have the means to pay for private HS and 4 years of college, then yes it will obviously be a benefit to practice and play with other top players, but it isn't a necessity.
