[Steven Smith]

It is generally more than just an additional 2 minutes. The time the field reset is issued (after the head ref indicates scores are tallied and people can enter the field) to the start of the next match is variable, but this year should be in the 2-4 minute range, versus ~8 minutes if you submitted a timeout request at the end of the allowable window.

The FIELD TIMEOUT is not the "normal turn around time" between matches. It is called if there is a field issue that needs to be resolved, or if teams would have to play back to back matches in < 5-6 minutes (can't find the reference), such as during a finals match.

I'm not 100% sure of the rationale behind the rule, but I see at least one advantage of doing it this way. If you just tacked on 6 minutes to the end of the "field reset", from the second you notify the field staff to the second they are complete with their reset, they are knowingly providing a team an advantage. This isn't to say it WOULD occur, but doing it this way removes any suspicion of a slower than average field reset to benefit a team that has called a time-out. As to why it won't stack with a FIELD TIMEOUT, I could just guess that it is a value argument over affording a team an extra 6 minutes, versus having potentially ~13-15 minutes of dead time between finals matches, which is tough on a crowd.

It sounds like in your situation, you were already in a FIELD TIMEOUT situation from a finals level match turn-around, and either the district rules are for a 5 minute timeout, or the referee incorrectly thought it was a 5 minute timeout versus a 6 minute. Your best best would have been to use it at the end of the 2 minute field reset window for a net gain of 2 minutes versus losing it altogether. In many other situations it would be worth between 4 to 6 minutes to your team.