I’ve thought the same thing. General effect includes stuff like props and uniforms, basically the feeling you get after seeing a good movie, but in this case after a marching show. And that’s stuff the kids don’t control. That counts towards 60% of their scoring!! You would think a contest would be more focused on the work the kids produce, and not the things money produces.
And not that kids don’t control GE, just a HUGE portion of it is produced by money that not all schools can afford to fund.