We need to differentiate here between “oppression” and “dominance.” Most sports are about dominance- who is most powerful wether that’s physically or mentally or some combination- and who is not. But they are also tests of our abilities- everyone’s an expert until they are put in a spot you need a level of expertise to work through that they don’t have. So competition is a lens and a mirror. It allows us to gauge our own abilities and progress, and it allows us to see where others are in ability as well.
In that sense- we could call anything which has an element of dominance a “tool of oppression” since the complement of control to oppression requires dominance or illusion of dominance over another. As far as the component to being cruel or unjust- no one is good st everything- and not letting anyone do something they are good at because others aren’t good at it doesn’t seem just to me. And really- most of the places dodgeball is played are places that exist to help people find their strengths and weaknesses and work on them as they choose- and you can’t really know you’re bad at something you haven’t tried and practiced at. Cruel is debatable. Life can be cruel. That doesn’t make life a form of oppression. Kids can be cruel- but you can’t really teach them to not be cruel and have those lessons stick as anything but rhetoric if they aren’t faced which changes to decide what they will be no?
However we label it- the fact is that you’ll be competing against others, peers and strangers alike- the rest of your life. Jobs, recognition, mating, etc etc. we don’t need to add unnecessary suffering to life- but especially for kids we also can’t coddle them to the point they can’t function in the real world. And this of course ignores competitive sports role as a stand in for combat to satisfy the basal instincts of humans and allow us to work out differences and frustrations without... killing or beating each other. While perhaps SOMEDAY humans will be far enough from these urges we don’t need to exercise them.... current events show that’s a long way away and dodgeball is probably at least more enlightened than kids going battle royal- probably less damaging to their mental and physical states as well.
I loved playing dodgeball as a kid. I wasn't the best at throwing, mainly because I was pretty small and it was difficult gripping the balls, but I was a real champ at dodging and catching. For that matter I still like playing even if after about four throws my shoulder will come out of the socket.
Most people don't take it seriously